Moonlight shines lightly, with stars twinkling, illuminating the night sky of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau.

"I am moved every day. In art class, the children drew Tian'anmen Square in Beijing; At the end of the home visits, parents held my hand, reluctant to part ways..."

On the evening of November 9 at 8 o'clock, in Qonggyai County, Zhou Zhichao returned to the Talent Apartment after a day of teaching and sat by the computer writing a diary.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of National Paired Assistance to Xizang. Over the past 30 years, cadres and talents have crossed mountains and rivers, working tirelessly on the plateau. Xizang has entered a historical period with the fastest development, the greatest changes and the strongest sense of gain among the masses.

Among the teams assisting Xizang, there is a group of volunteers who respond to the national call and come from the "Kelsang Flower" College Student Volunteer Teaching Group of Hubei University of Arts and Science. Zhou Zhichao is one of them. In September, she and four other team members went to Xizang and began a six-month volunteer teaching life.

Kelsang Flower symbolizes happiness in Tibetan language.

Since 2014, a total of 88 people in 17 batches from this school have come to Qonggyai County, which is paired with Xiangyang City for assistance, to carry out voluntary teaching. They illuminated children's future and were praised as the "most beautiful Kelsang Flower". They were honored as the "National Model Collective for Ethnic Unity and Progress", and the "Xizang Youth May 4 Medal".

Over the past ten years, the members of "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group worked hard in school, not only helping a number of Xizang students out of the mountains, but also deeply perceiving the changes in Xizang.

From small room to multimedia classroom

The members of the 17th batch of "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group were impressed when they walked into the newly built primary school with an investment of 120 million yuan, including modern teaching buildings, multimedia classrooms, and standard football fields.

What surprised them even more was that the exam results of Qonggyai County Middle School and Primary School ranked among the top in Shannan City.

This is very different from what the first batch of volunteer teaching group members, such as He Fengfan, saw when they first arrived.

"At that time, the school didn't even have a decent school gate. classrooms were small and dilapidated, and there was a shortage of teachers." He Fengfan said.

Helping the children solidify their academic foundation became the primary task of the "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group.

With a small room of 20 square meters, several worn desks and chairs, and a detachable blackboard, the first tutoring class was built in Qonggyai County Middle School.

"I will always miss that small room." Said Losang Tashi, who works in Lhasa after graduating from university. "Without tutoring classes, I probably would not have been able to get into high school or university."

From the third batch to the seventeenth batch, the tutoring class has never been interrupted. The teaching environment has changed from a shabby room to a "cloud" multimedia classroom covered by optical fiber Internet. The dormitories of the volunteer teaching group have also changed from cramped multi-person rooms to newly built talent apartments.

The improvement of the learning environment allows children to immerse themselves more comfortably in the ocean of knowledge.

In 2023, Qonggyai County Middle School ranked second in the average score of the high school entrance examination in Shannan City, and the pass rate of Qonggyai County Primary School in the final examination ranked first in the city.

"The rapid progress and great changes are inseparable from the contribution of the 'Kelsang Flower' Volunteer Teaching Group." Said Sonam Tashi, Deputy Director of the Education Bureau of Qonggyai County.

Colorful "Second Classroom"

"Ok, guys, follow me." On November 10, Tan Rui, as a member of the "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group, led dozens of students to play Chang Quan on the playground of the school.

The arrival of Tan Rui brings traditional martial arts back into this campus. The first time was 8 years ago when Liao Wenmao, a volunteer teacher, founded the first martial arts club in Qonggyai County Middle School.

"Teacher, I want to draw Tian'anmen Square." "Teacher, please tell me about perspective again." Lv Bangjia, a volunteer teacher, still remembers the eager eyes of the children when he set up his first art club in middle school in 2016. After each class, students would always surrounded him and asked for an extra half hour.

The first choir, the first national flag guard team, the first science and creativity club, the first football club, the first basketball club, the first art exhibition, the first robot flash mob, the first Chinese-Tibetan bilingual broadcasting station, the first set of cheerleading exercises during break time... The "second classroom" sprung up like spring shoots after rain, which means a large number of "second classroom" emerged.

"Teacher, does a higher position mean better signal?" "Why?" "Because when the television antenna is placed higher on the roof, the more channels can be received." This is a conversation between volunteer teacher Li Changcun and a student in October 2017.

As the founder of the science and creativity club of Qonggyai County Middle School, Li Changcun did not reply easily. He took the opportunity of the principal's business trips many times to hitchhike, measuring data from different places at an altitude of 5 meters to 4,000 meters.

Based on the data collected, the experiment designed by the children to test the correlation between altitude and the intensity of Beidou satellite signals won the first prize in the "Beidou Navigation Dream"- China Adolescents Science & Technology Innovation Contest. Since then, the club has been renamed as the Beidou Class and continues to today.

Children who have seen the world are better able to be seen by the world.

Ngawang Tenzin, who planted his aviation dream in the Beidou class, fulfilled his wish this year by being admitted to the Civil Aviation University of China this year; Lhakyi Baima, who got into university, aspires to return to Xizang and become a preschool teacher; Kelsang Tashi, who joined the basketball club, is now a member of the university's basketball team.

More and more children taught by the "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group are passing exams and going to pursue their futures across the country.

"Fly high like an eagle, and never forget the roots like a big tree." The students interviewed said that the "second classroom" illuminated new paths in life, broadened their horizons, made them more love their motherland and Xizang, and be more sunny and confident. They left the mountains through exams in order to better return and build their hometown.

The closer journey of home visits

On September 7, Nyima Kelsang, a new student admitted to Hubei University of Arts and Science, was greeted by his volunteer teacher Ji Guansheng.

For this reunion, Ji Guansheng made a special trip from Shandong thousands of miles away to Xiangyang. The two sang hand in hand and reminisced about their teacher-student relationship.

Seeing the video of singing, Kelsang Tashi, a sophomore at North China Electric Power University, recalled Ji Guansheng's home visit during the 2018 Mid-Autumn Festival.

"Along the way, Mr. Ji told me a lot of things outside Xizang. The road may be long, but our hearts are getting closer and closer." Kelsang Tashi said.

Endless home visits, endless conversations.

"Along the way, Tamdrin was like a teacher, constantly reminding me to watch my step." "When it was time to leave, Tamdrin and her mother saw us off again and again, walking us a long way." Peng Chuang, a member of the ninth batch of volunteer teachers, wrote in his diary.

Qonggyai County covers an area of 1,030 square kilometers, with a permanent population of 150,000. It is vast and sparsely populated. Ten years ago, there were few buses, and it was common for home visits to take a few hours back and forth.

"Now conditions are much better ," said Zhou Yu, a member of the sixteenth batch of "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group who just completed volunteer this year. "A few years ago, the cement road was built into village. I won't have to step in mud pits along the way, let alone climb mountains and take short cuts. I also met enthusiastic drivers twice who gave me a lift directly into the village."

After 10 years of home visits, the relationship between teachers, parents, and students has become closer and closer.

Looking through the diary of a volunteer teacher, vivid details come to mind one by one: Walking on the road, Tibetan children will greet me proactively; At the students’ homes, parents serve me with butter tea, potatoes, and cookies as if greeting their relatives; As soon as I enter the classroom, a group of children will run towards me and beg for a hug.

He Yuqi, a member of "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group, wrote in her diary: "Only by setting foot on this land can one feel the love of the Tibetan people for their motherland and their affection for the compatriots who assist Xizang."

The love for Xizang has also changed the employment direction of many members of "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group.

According to a questionnaire survey distributed by reporters to the members of "Kelsang Flower" Volunteer Teaching Group, 96% of them believe that their teaching experience has made them more fearless of hardships, and equipped them with the courage to accept the challenges. Among the graduates of them, 80% chose to work at the grass-roots level or in the field of education, and 10 stayed in Xizang.

Reporter:  Peng Xiaoping, Lei Chuang, Sun Kaiyuan

Translator: Luo Rongting, Zhi Xinghua

Review: Hu Rongguo, Li Chengye