Li Jianlin is a senior college student in City College of Wenzhou University in east China's Zhejiang Province. She has toured 10 cities in Southeast Asia with her mother, using money she earned from part time jobs.

Li said their travel was a gift she gave herself upon graduation. Li and her mother spent more than 15,000 yuan (U.S. $2,410) in total during their 36-day tour. To save money, they had meals at roadside stands and traveled mostly on foot.

During her school days, Li was known as a part-time job queen who had done various part-time jobs, including setting up a stand, working as a tutor, and being a foot-model. With the money she earned, Li not only can afford all of her tuition and cover her living expenses, but also saved more than 20,000 yuan (U.S. $3,214).

In her third year in college, Li finished the entire curriculum with good grades. Li decided to serve as a volunteer teacher in the mountainous areas in southwest China's Sichuan Province during the first semester, and then traveled abroad with her mother in the second semester.

"When I was a child, my mother often took me to travel, and cooked dinner for me, but she has never gone abroad before," she said. "Thus I traveled with her abroad to repay her."

Having fulfilled her dream, Li has now started her own career. She recently opened a curtain shop in Shaoxing in Zhejiang Province.

(Photo provided)