National Day Vacation and Liukou Village

A few days ago was one of China’s major holiday known as National Day. It celebrates the anniversary of the creation of the People’s Republic of China. Equally important, during this time everybody takes a week off, including our school. Since Pingmin Elementary is a boarding school, kids don’t usually go home, but because of the longer vacation, their guardians came to pick them up and go back home for a week. All the kids were super excited to go back home and waited eagerly outside for their guardians to come. Some kids got really anxious and waited and waited thinking that no one would pick them up. But sure enough in the end, all the guardians came and all the kids were able to go back home. It was interesting to see who these kid’s guardians were, a lot of them being grandmothers or grandfathers. Some parents were handicapped and some kids just had older siblings or relatives to pick them up.


During this break, Principal Zhang took me to a village about an hour away because she had to talk to someone. The village is called Liukou and is home to one of the 5th grade students. This was the first time I went to a local village. It was a good distance away and only connected by rough windy roads leading up into a small mountainous region. Lush, green bamboo filled the whole mountain side as we ascended up and up, each healthy and drooping, resembling a mountain full of big, green, dust mops. The village was medium sized, maybe around 200-300 people. We arrived midday, with middle-age and old villagers staring at us as we passed by. Besides a big antenna on the top of the mountain, everything else had a very village type feel. Older men and women, wrinkled and hump backed, sat in groups lounging, eating pumpkin seeds, talking, and smoking. Younger woman were washing vegetables and clothes in a small river that flowed under a small bridge and separated into smaller creeks. Houses were very rustic and crude, obviously weathered over time. Building materials like bamboo, rocks, and cement blocks lined the street. Clothes hanged on bamboo poles. Pig pens were numerous and chickens roamed freely. There were even ingenious crafted fish ponds with beautiful big fish that harnessed the flowing creeks to refresh the water continuously. There were also dried ham hanging, pumpkins and winter melon piled up on balconies, and various vegetables drying out in the open air. Behind the village was a vast garden with fields, each villager knowing which section was theirs even though each lot was unmarked. And of course, lush, green mountains surrounded us echoing the sounds of birds and the flowing water beneath. Unfortunately, there was also a lot of trash carelessly littered and dumped on the ground and in the river, more than I expected in such a natural environment. After a super fresh lunch consisting of home-grown Chinese spinach, home-made cured pork, home-made pickled chili peppers, and other fresh stir fried dishes, I walked around the village with the 5th grade student and a couple of his village friends. They were very quiet and well-behaved but also very curious like any small child. I noticed there were no teenager or young adults and later found out that this is very common in villages because they all are in college or working in bigger cities to make better money. This leaves only the parents, grandparents, babies, and adolescents here. When I was here, a couple of things caught my eye. One were houses made with long wood planks vertically assembled together and surrounding the outside of the house. Wood is probably cheaper and more abundant than brick, but still it must get cold during winter! The other thing that caught my eye was watching a 70+ year old coming back from the field shouldering a large knapsack with one hand and a handful of veggies in the other. I guess retiring is not an option here as even the old continue to work until they physically can’t anymore.


During the last day before school started again, the guardians and kids slowly came pouring back. Some had new clothes, toys, and even some candy and snacks as a parting gift. The teachers and Principal try to discourage the guardians from leaving food with the kids, as other kid’s guardians cannot afford these extras. So to prevent the left-out kids from feeling sad, we have to tell the guardians to bring enough to share with the whole class. There were also a few younger kids who cried and held on to the guardians when it was time for them to leave. Being away from home and family is obviously such a tough thing to do for these children as young as seven. One child, the quietest, smallest of the 1st graders and without any parents, cried the longest and loudest as we had to hold her back while her grandmother took the bus back to her village. After a few minutes, we let her go and she ran past the school gates and out onto the streets only to find that her grandma already left. Still screaming and crying, she yelled she would find the bus herself to take her back. We eventually had to carry her back to the school. It’s hard for the guardians to see their children crying and wanting to go back home but they also know that an educational opportunity like this deserves some sacrifices, however hard it might be.