Chairman Mao's revolution, in an attempt to transform the custom, went to great lengths to extol the virtues of the proletariat and denounce property owners.

It largely failed to achieve its goal of equality as it only shifted different people into the enviable positions of power.

With economic reform, channels for upward mobility have been exponentially increased.

Military service and college education are no longer the only two ways into middle class. But those left behind are faced with the unmasked reality of seeing the rest of the world, especially the rich and powerful, speeding ahead while lamenting their own lack of proper economic means to get ahead.

The greatest irony is higher education, which theoretically places the young, regardless of family income, at the same starting line.

Yet the high cost and inadequate subsidy often drag them further behind, leaving them with a mountain of debt and a dimmer prospect for a decent job.

No wonder they give job hunting the nickname of "pindie game", which means "the competition of dads".

And it's not surprising poor dads tend to lose.

The silver lining to this cloud is the emergence of assistance programs at various placement centers, from universities to local governments. It will ease some of the pain for the second-generation poor.

But in the long term, it will take a change of national mindset to dissociate one's personal strength from his or her family status.