(Photo: China Daily)

Zhang Yadong is an engineering freshman from Zhoukou, a city in Central China's Henan province. During the last semester, as he had to stay at home for online classes, he bought the necessary materials and parts to build a miniature railway in the yard of his home.

As a report by China Central Television shows, the "mini railway" is more than a toy. The 70-meters of track traverses a variety of different landscapes, and has curves, goes up and down a "mountain" made out of clay and even crosses "rivers".

Zhang built eight bridges in all, some are made of concrete and some of steel and wood, to cross the rivers and go above the uneven ground, and he dug a tunnel through the "mountain". Just as Cao Xinglin, the head of his college, said in an interview, the building process requires both an innovative mind and good working abilities.

The video has gone viral on domestic social networks, with many hailing Zhang as a future high-speed railway engineer.

It might be too early to assert his future career because there are still years before his graduation, and building such a miniature railway is different from building high-speed railways in reality.

Yet Zhang's railway is still praiseworthy. We have seen many college graduates who are good at passing exams and writing essays, but who are unable to do anything practical. Compared with them, Zhang has demonstrated excellent practical ability.

Some might say that Zhang studies in an engineering major and those studying in other majors might not need the same practical skills. But that is incorrect, practical skills are necessary for all. What students learn should not stay on paper only, but also be applied in reality.

After all, what society needs are not people who only know about theories, but people who are capable of doing things.