I am very happy to find a hot debate on the science net about young scholars'choice for their future career.Actually I think it is a personal affair and depend on what you like in your life.
This is a quite easy question for most of my American friends.When they decide to further their education for Ph. D degree, they have a clear goal in mind since they have been trained for several years as a TA or RA or GA. During these processs ,they can understand what is their interest and talent,how to combine them best.
Almost all the graduate student I have known live on themselves and get paid from their teaching or researching work. They are very independent and good at solving problems.Similar to China,if they want to graduate from university ,they must finish more than one projects.But the different thing is that they can get research funding in many ways not just from their supervisor.There are so many opportunities for them to write a proposal to get a grant when in China this kind of opportunity is just open to research scholars. In order to get a grant they must learn how to plan their project and how to interpret to others.Also there are so many academic meetings welcoming both undergraduate students and graduate students.The organizers want the future new emerging forces to show off themselves,get access to the pioneers in the field and understand which way is their potential development.From A to Z ,they have sufficient rights to follow their heart.
After I compare the two kind of education systems,I have to say currently the Chinese young scholar 'escaping from science field is not weird,which is based on depriving his freedom of choices on his way of science.