Time away from school, popular in the West, gets ferocious resistance from Asian parents

Taking a gap year between secondary school and university is a practice that originated in the United Kingdom in the 1960s. In time, it was embraced by young people from many Western countries and has attracted the attention of young Chinese in recent years.

However, a deep-rooted aversion to delaying career progression means the gap year has yet to catch on in Chinese society, observers said.