Across China: From Hunan to Harvard - a boy who was not "left-behind"

Zeng Xianhua has barely enough time to put in a full shift at the piggery these days, not since last week when her son, He Jiang, gave the commencement address at Harvard University.

The previously sleepy village of Tingzhongxin in central China's Hunan Province is now besieged by reporters from home and abroad clamoring for interviews, eager for the story of her son's journey from a rural Chinese backwater to center stage at the world's finest university.

BITTEN BY THE KNOWLEDGE BUG

He Jiang began his address with an anecdote about how, when he was a child, his mother used a traditional remedy to cure a spider bite. An unusual way to begin a speech to world's brightest minds, but an excellent introduction to his the theme: unequal distribution of scientific knowledge throughout the world. Moreover, it is an extremely strange topic to go viral on Chinese social media, especially considering the speech was made in near-perfect English.

Acclaim is virtually universal. "I thought it was brilliant," said a village official after watching the speech online.

With the speech has come a most unusual kind of fame, as He Jiang's story has captured the hearts of many who know nothing of Harvard University and have precious little scientific knowledge themselves.

More than anything, He Jiang is thankful to his parents for not letting him becoming one of the millions of "left-behind" children. "My parents did not use any special tricks in bringing me up," said He Jiang during a conversation on WeChat. "At a time when many people from rural China were leaving their children behind to seek their fortunes in the cities, they gave up that opportunity and stayed home to look after me and my little brother."

Even during the years of the one-child policy, rural residents were allowed two children and, as if one brilliant mind in the family was not enough, "little brother" He Jiaolong is a graduate of the University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, one of the country's finest.

All this academic glory was funded from 10 pigs and three fields of rice.

NO SECRET

Visitors are coming from far and wide, many to pay homage to the parenting skills of Zeng and her husband He Bicheng.

"My son is still in school and I wanted to visit the parents to learn how they brought up their son," said a man who had travelled from from another county to pay his respects.

Besides the fans, when Xinhua turned up at Zeng's home, we had to take our place in line behind two other media organizations already patiently waiting.

"There is no secret to their success," Zeng said, blushing as faced the press. "We never imagined what they have the achieved today."

But in eyes of neighbors, classmates and teachers, achievements like theirs are not a matter of chance.

"The whole family knows the importance of education," said a neighbor, Zhang Aifang, "and the parents gave up a good income for the sake of their sons."

The father, He Bicheng, said, "When they were little, I read them stories every night and I told them how wonderful the outside world would be if they studied hard and went to college." He Bicheng said he never forced them to study, but cultivated a love of learning.

The two boys' upbringing was as normal as could be. They shared the household chores and toiled in the paddy fields with their parents from an early age. "We wanted them to understand how hard it is to earn a living as farmers and they wanted to help us," Zeng said.

He Jiang said his experience working in the fields was very important to him. "I've seen the difficulties for myself and I wanted to change my own life," he said, but whenever he returns home from the States, he still joins his parents in the fields.

"He is diligent, persistent and has a pleasant demeanor," said He Jiang's high school English teacher, Xie Fang. He was also famously stoic, always wearing the same coat throughout the year. Most importantly he was neither sensitive nor ashamed of his rural roots. On the contrary, He Jiang was optimistic and open-minded, Xie said.

Long Kunming, another high school teacher described him as quiet, focused and very clear about his goals.

MAXIMUM RESPECT

Aiming high, they say, and even as he matriculated at the University of Science and Technology of China, He Jiang had his mind set on graduate school at Harvard and his intention never wavered. And when eventually made it, the first thing he did was to set to work on his language skills, striving to improve his spoken English.

"I moved to the undergraduate dormitory and lived with the American students. This helped my pronunciation a lot," he said. Chinese students studying abroad often find it hard to mix and their friendship groups are often almost exclusively Chinese.

Mini-celebrity that his speech has made him, He Jiang wants nothing so much as to return to the laboratory. Now a Harvard alumnus, his next port of call will be only 2 kilometers away, at MIT for a post-doctoral degree. He says he does not know what will happen after that, perhaps he will return to China, perhaps he will stay in the States, but mother Zeng knows what she wants for her son.

"Of course we hope he will come back and marry a Chinese girl, but we will respect his choice," she said. Endi