Goodbye Rural China!

As I layover in Tokyo waiting for my flight back home to America, I have the chance to write one more entry after having had a month of travel and relaxation to reflect on my time at Pingmin Elementary School. Of course, I will miss the kids, teachers, and all the friends I made there the most. One of the lasting images and memories that will last me a lifetime was seeing the teary eyed face and warm smile of 1st grade teacher Wang Lihua as she walked on my bus to Shanghai and surprised me to say one final last goodbye. It was truly a scene in one of those movies. I was on the bus, ready to leave Xiuning soon for Shanghai. Wang Lihua called my cell phone and frantically asked me where I was and if I have left yet. As the bus started its engine and pulled out of the parking lot, I told her I was already on the bus and ready to go. I could hear her crying as I tried to comfort her and gracefully tell her goodbye at the same time. The bus was just about to leave the parking lot when it came to a stop for a minute. Suddenly, I saw Wang Lihua climb the stairs to the second deck, her head turned to the front of the bus as she called “Jared!” I was in the very back, and as I stood up in disbelief, she turned around and saw me too. She walked towards me and handed me a bag of snacks. I only said out loud, “thank you” but no other words needed to be said. Her face was a mix of exhaustion, happiness, relief, and sadness. Her eyes were teary as she smiled. I was too far away to hug her, so I grabbed her right hand in the air and grasped it. We stood there looking at each other for a few seconds and it was then that I realized – I was meant to come to Pingmin School to experience what I have and meet the people that I did. These types of friendships are truly the divine work of fate. I was meant to come to Pingmin School and experience all of this for a reason I don’t know yet. She said a quick “bye,” turned around, and left the bus. Although our interaction and farewell only lasted 5 seconds, the moment felt very timeless and the picture of her teary happy face will last with me forever.

I will miss these genuine friendships I made and getting to know the people here. Living in a rural area full of rice fields and mountainous backdrops, and visiting the unassuming beauty of surrounding villages were some of the most memorable experiences. Just by sharing a meal under someone’s roof you can understand that you can be perfectly happy in life with just good food and people around you. This is the China I always wanted to experience. Not the glitz and glamour of Shanghai or Beijing, but the true, down to earth people that give you an unfiltered insight on the deep culture, proud traditions, and friendly hospitality of Chinese people. I’m happy that I came to a place that is unfamiliar and uncomfortable. I’m glad I had the opportunity to maybe impact a child’s life here in an area where few choose to live. With the ever widening social economic gap occurring in China, kids like these need more attention and help before they become even more marginalized.


I miss the kids and whenever I see a picture of them on my computer, I remember certain stories or random memories about them. I will definitely try to remain in contact with them by writing letters and sending pictures over to them. I will always be rooting for them and hope they live a happy and meaningful life. On my last night at Pingmin School, before they were ready to go home, I had the opportunity to speak with the 5th and 6th graders. I told them (in bad Chinese) to remember there are always people worse off as you. Realize how lucky you are, how much you have, and how many people love and care for you. And then help others. It is only natural that some of these kids will do bad things as they mature and grow up, everyone does, but I have faith in every one of them that at some point in their life, they will do good things and live right. When I look at these kids, I also see a reflection of life itself. They remind me what innocence is, what laughter sounds like, what things in life really make you happy, how good humans can become, and how bad we can become too. I am so happy to have met them, sad to leave them, but also so excited for what they can become.

I also learned a lot about the Chinese education system. And indeed, all the rumors are true – it is very rigorous with high emphasis on education but with even higher pressure on these kids. For most of these kids, their parents or guardians spent their whole lives working on the farm in the village or doing meaningless low-salary jobs in bigger cities. They themselves because of economic standings and other reasons never had an opportunity to focus on education and get into college as it was more important to make money and help the family get food on the table. So because the parents want a better future for their kids and have their kids make enough money to support them when they get old, the parents want to make sure their child is studying hard so that he/she can get into a good college and get a good job. Unfortunately, China’s main criteria for admission into college are based purely on the famous Gaokao, China’s college entrance exam where your score and rank determine which college you will be placed into. Moreover, pressure is not just coming from the parents. Provinces, districts, counties, local education boards, schools, and teachers all have pressure trickling down from above to make sure the students will test well and test better than other schools. Besides, higher markings also mean higher bonuses. Unfortunately, this all leads to fierce competition and enormous amounts of pressure on the kids. It also leads to a narrow-sighted focus that significantly affects education here, and that is to learn how to test well. All over the country, education has morphed into a form that will prepare these students to think analytically and do well on tests. But how well can they think for themselves? Luckily, more and more Chinese young adults are also realizing this problem in the system and more questions are being asked. Is it more important to recite a passage from heart or to learn to think more critically? Should cramming the same inordinate amounts of information into your head like everyone else be the focus or learning what you’re interested in? Unfortunately, it all leads to the same approach because the Gaokao is still the overarching deciding factor for placement. More unlucky however are these kids. Obviously China has one of the higher percentages of smart, educated citizens and a lot of it is based on the importance of education and values of hard work. But this system is coming at what type of cost for these kids? How is it affecting their development? Is drilling practice tests for 2 weeks to 1st graders really worth it?

A teacher here had a good analogy of what education is and how kids should be brought up. A school is a garden. Some students are flowers. Help them blossom beautifully and naturally. Some students are grass. Encourage them to grow green and big so that they can decorate the land. But no matter whether they are flowers or grass, they all have something to offer in Spring. Raise them to be the most brilliantly colored flowered or greenest grass they can be.