Quitting her job as receptionist, joining rock bands and chancing her tattoo-sleeved arm at small business ventures would once have branded college graduate Ding Jia as a rebel in China. Now she can claim state endorsement as a "creative."
"I haven't had a formal job in years," said Ding, 31, sitting in her tiny coffee and cocktails bar on a trendy Shanghai street.
She has no regrets, but no illusions either. "Entrepreneurship can be a really hard experience," she said. "Profits can be so thin."