Students will continue to participate in the census during summer and winter vacations. In the summer vacation next year, 360 students of this major will enter and in the winter vacation of 2026, 480 students will join.

This year, following the steps of Shanxi, Shaanxi and Shandong provinces have also begun enrolling students to train them to be grassroots cultural protectors, providing free education and requiring them to work for their hometowns after graduation.

Liu Gang, director of the personnel and education department of the Shanxi Cultural Relics Bureau, says he is pleased to see the talent cultivation pattern is being adopted by other provinces.

"At the same time, we are burdened as the initiator of this pattern. ... We want to make it more scientific and accurate, issuing more supportive policies to make this pattern more effective," says Liu.