"Picture Story" (2) "One and Eight" - a mountain village teacher who has been holding a primary school deep in the mountains of Yunnan for 38 years

Xinhua News Agency photo, Kunming, September 8, 2018 "One and Eight" – Wang Zhengxiang, a mountain village teacher who has been holding a primary school deep in the mountains of Yunnan for 38 years, poses with some students at the entrance of the school (photo taken on September 6). Wang Zhengxiang, 56, is a Miao teacher at Ayiyang Primary School in Sanmeng Village, Sayingpan Town, Lushu Yi and Miao Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, and the only teacher at the school. In 1980, Wang Zhengxiang began teaching at the age of 18 and then persisted for 38 years. Ayi Sheep Primary School is located at an altitude of about 2600 meters above sea level, which is inconvenient for transportation. Compared with the surrounding adobe houses, the brick-concrete school surrounded by mountains is very prominent, and the new school building was built in 2016. The elementary school now has only 8 pupils, 4 of whom are in the third grade and 4 of whom are in pre-school classes, all in one classroom. From 7 a.m. to 6 p.m., Wang Zhengxiang is both a teacher and a "parent" of the children. He cares for the children in every detail: picking up and dropping off day students, giving lessons to students, grading homework, taking care of sick students, cutting nails, buying shoes and daily necessities for students with family difficulties with his own money, making lunch for children with his wife... He hoped that there were not many students in the school, and there were several students who dropped out of school due to their parents' illness or poverty, and he found them one by one to find ways to help them solve their difficulties and complete their studies. For 38 years of teaching, Wang Zhengxiang has been sticking to the depths of the mountains. He said: "I have a teacher in the village, as long as there is a student, I will continue to teach, do not let the children drop out of school." I hope they fly out of the mountains like little eagles and have a brighter future. Xinhua News Agency reporter Lin Yiguang photographed