Wang Peng works for a consultancy in Beijing. On Friday, his boss gave him and some of his colleagues the afternoon off so they could join a protest rally at the gates of the Japanese embassy in the city's downtown area.

A boy takes part in a protest in Taiyuan, the capital of Shanxi province, on Sept 15. He was one of thousands of protesters across China who voiced their displeasure over Japan's claims on the Diaoyu Islands. [Photo / China News Service]

"He (the boss) is a patriot. We just can't endure it any longer. It's like a robber breaking into your house and trying to steal your belongings," said the 30-year-old, referring to Japanese claims to have "bought" the Diaoyu Islands.

Most of those protesting on the streets of China's biggest cities are in Wang's age group, 20s and 30s.

However, the dispute over the islands is the cause of conflicting emotions among many young Chinese people.

They know all about Japan because they grew up during China's three decades of opening-up and reform, watching Japanese cartoons, listening to Japanese pop music and following Japanese movie and television stars.

They are impressed by the country's pop culture and high-tech products, its high level of education and well-ordered society. Many of those interviewed by China Daily have either traveled to the country or have Japanese friends and colleagues.

Some are radical, others less so, but these young Chinese share a common sentiment over the issue, tempered by their individual points of view.

Liu Xiushan, 33, is a lawyer in Beijing. He clearly remembers when he was aged 7 and his father bought a black-and-white television set. A dozen neighbors flocked into the family home every evening to watch a Japanese love story. Liu's mother can still recite the name of almost every actor and actress in the soap opera.

Liu grew up watching Ikkyu-san, an animation about a young Japanese monk. Even after all these years, he still often imitates the monk's characteristic body language when deep in thought, drawing circles near his temples with his index finger.

But when he was getting older, he learned more about history and got to know more about the Japanese invasion and occupation between 1937 and 1945.

"Those brutal scenes are so deeply rooted in my mind that I can't really bring myself to like Japan," he said.

Despite that, he wanted to take his wife to Hokkaido after watching the movie You are the One, which was shot in the scenic Japanese city. However, he recently abandoned that idea.

Jin Xin, 31, the manager of Dalian Wakalu Japanese advertising agency in Northeast China's Liaoning province, has immersed himself in Japanese culture.

"About 80 to 90 percent of the animations I saw as a child were made in Japan. I majored in Japanese at the university, and now my customers are mainly Japanese companies, restaurants and shops," he said.

The issue of the Diaoyu Islands has become the hottest topic among his friends and colleagues.

"I've been paying great attention to the progress of the dispute and during the first few days I even updated my news app every five minutes," said Jin.

"So far there hasn't been a large protest in Dalian, although if there is one, I will be the first to join. Through our protests, we can tell the Japanese government that we are brave enough to guard our homeland," he said.