I have witnessed some great recent developments in the Department of Sociology at Zhejiang University. We have enriched our course offering, and our courses have become increasingly popular to both sociology and non-sociology students. Riding on the high tide of our academic environment, we have also hosted several high-quality workshop and academic conferences. Moreover, scholars from our department have already started publishing in some of the top journals in the West, and their works have received international attention. These are all wonderful news. However, as the Chair of the Sociology Department, I am mindful of the challenges that the department faces in the future.  Could we find an alternative path considering heavy pressure from the academic evaluation system? The core of the existing system in China is based upon the quantity of publications and research projects. Could we establish excellent undergraduate and graduate programs that could compete with that of world leading post-secondary institutions? Could we discover our own unique path in teaching and talent training? Also, what kind of mechanisms could we adopt to encourage the integration of our teachers into mainstream sociology of the West, but at the same time to foster the production of research that considers China’s ontological and epistemological characteristics? What can we bring to the West, in terms of Chinese sociology? These questions need to be continuously and diligently explored, considering great obstacles ahead. Delightfully, we are on the right path, and are prepared to take further steps. Indeed, we are dedicated to fostering an academic community in which academic research could be in its purest form, and transforming the Department of Sociology into a place where both students and scholars aspire to be.