An activity on October 30, calling on people to learn from Zhang Guimei, the president of Huaping Senior High School for Girls. The event was held in Huaping County, Lijiang City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

An activity was held on October 30 in Huaping County, Lijiang City, Southwest China's Yunnan Province, to call on people to learn from a woman educator who has made extraordinary contributions to rural girls' education. 

Zhang Guimei, the president of Huaping Senior High School for Girls, has spent years advocating for impoverished girls' education. She founded the Huaping Senior High School for Girls in Lijiang in 2008, the country's first all-girls public high school that does not charge tuition fees. The school has helped more than 1,800 students realize their dreams of attending university.

The 63-year-old Zhang has already spent over one million yuan (US $142,594) to run the school, which is located in the mountains. She has supported the school through thick and thin, even while she suffered from multiple diseases.  

Zhang has also served as the president of a local welfare house for children in Huaping for two decades, and she has given love and help to 130 unaccompanied children.

Zhang Guimei gives a speech at the event. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

"We must run the school well in a bid to send girls in the mountains to college! This is the original aspiration of our faculty," Zhang said in her speech at the meeting, adding that the school has received generous support from the Party and the government, whose strong backing is as essential as the power of faith and perseverance. She also acknowledged the hard work and selfless dedication of the faculty and the staff of the school.

"What I pursue is to enable impoverished girls to change their destiny through reading, establish lofty ideals and ambitions and make greater contributions to society. I see more and more students that have done it. They use their strength to give back to society and to the people who helped them," Zhang said.

'Miracle Principal' Zhang Guimei, a micro-documentary about Zhang, was played at the event. The protagonist wakes students before dawn and conducts class inspections every day. She also persuades dropouts to keep studying. In one scene, Zhang takes a lunch break on a bench due to exhaustion.

Through the documentary, people can better understand the vast amount of energy within Zhang's thin body and feel an ordinary woman's extraordinary power.

Zhang Guimei (C), president of Huaping Senior High School for Girls, receives the National March 8th Red-banner Pacesetter award at the event. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

In July, the All-China Women's Federation (ACWF) announced Zhang as a recipient of the National March 8th Red-banner Pacesetter award, a top national honor for outstanding women role models in China. The award commends her selfless devotion to the cause of education and education-oriented poverty alleviation.

The ACWF encourages more Chinese women to learn from her dedication and relentless spirit to improve girls' education, reduce poverty and boost people's happiness.

Liu Anping, President of the Huaping Women's Federation, speaks at the event. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

At the meeting, representatives from the local women's federation and the fields of education, health, journalism and law, shared stories based on their personal lives. All of these stories shared one thing in common: They all began with Zhang.

"Over the years, Zhang's spirit has been passed on, and it has influenced lots of people around her," said Liu Anping, President of the Huaping Women's Federation.

Yang Qiongying, Director of the Yuxi Educational Science Research Institute, speaks at the event. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

Yang Qiongying, Director of the Yuxi Educational Science Research Institute, shared her journey from being a primary school teacher to a national model.

"No matter how far we go, we can't forget how we started," said Yang, who is also a recipient of the title of National March 8th Red-banner Pacesetter. "Stick to the model of childlike education, spread innocence and let more children enjoy a fair and quality education. That was my original intention."

Dai Yuejiao, who was a member of the medical team sent to assist Hubei during China's COVID-19 outbreak, shares her story at the event. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

Another representative, Dai Yuejiao, a recipient of the honorable title of the province's Most Beautiful Family in the Anti-COVID-19 Fight, who was a member of the medical team sent to assist Hubei, shared her stories from China's hardest-hit city during the novel coronavirus outbreak.

"Zhang is an outstanding representative of Chinese women in the new era," Dai said. "I think her noble qualities are comparable to the great anti-epidemic spirit."

Yu Nanliu, who works in the People's Procuratorate of Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, shares her story at the event. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

The outstanding national prosecutor Yu Manliu, who works in the People's Procuratorate of Jinghong City, Xishuangbanna Dai Autonomous Prefecture, Yunnan Province, also told her story of returning to the region's mountainous area and lending a hand to border governance.

Qiu Yueting, a reporter from Yunnan Media Group, recalls her interviews with Zhang. [Yunnan Women's Federation]

Qiu Yueting, a journalist from Yunnan Media Group, also recounted two interviews she conducted with Zhang. She used plain language to describe the details of her interviews and shared how Zhang rushed back to school after recording the program.

The activity was sponsored by the Publicity Department of the Yunnan Provincial Committee of the Communist Party of China and Yunnan Women's Federation. Local women, cadres of the women's federations and people from all walks of life in Yunnan Province watched the event online.

"A person affects a city. I think this is the most meaningful echo of Zhang's spirit in the era. Zhang is a model that everyone should learn from, from now on," said Liu.

(Source: Yunnan Women's Federation/Translated and edited by Women of China)