Across China: A Kirgiz girl's dream

Gulniya, 14, a Kirgiz girl who lives at the foot of the snow-capped mountains, dreamed for years about the summer that her hometown hardly sees, as well as "schools in the city."

"Schools there are not made of mud, so studying will not freeze my hands," she said.

Her village Bulunkyvle in Akto County of northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, means "a lake in the corner" in the kirgiz language. It is adjacent to Tajikistan.

Akto County, one of the areas most inhabited by China's kirgiz ethnic population, is noted for its average annual temperature of 0.7 degrees Celsius, an average altitude of more than 2,800 meters, glaciers, and inaccessibility.

Gulniya used to have to walk for over half an hour through the mountains from home to the school, departing before sunrise. "My hands were frozen stiff during the first class and I could not write anything. They usually warmed up during the second class."

During the short summer, melted snow would cause flooding. She and her schoolmates had no choice but to take off their shoes and wade through the freezing water.

Because Gulniya's parents are herdsmen, her family moves with the flock so she has to keep changing school.

Things changed in 2014 when she enrolled as a student of a new bilingual school, which offers free board and education in both mandarin and kirgiz for children like Gulniya.

At first, there were 32 teachers and 380 students in the school, and classes were held in eight classrooms borrowed from a local college, but for Gulniya, this was already "the most perfect school."

In the autumn of 2014, her school's new building opened. In 2015, the playground and track were completed. In 2016, a new arts building opened and next year, two five-floor dormitory buildings will be finished.

In the course of three years, Gulniya and many other children have learned how to use computers, paint and dance. She now plays an electronic keyboard, something she had only seen on TV before.

This elementary school now has 2,802 students and 189 teachers, representing a diverse mix of Han, Kirgiz, Uygur and Mongol ethnic groups.

Gulniya regularly calls her parents and goes back home via school transportation provided for free.

She and her parents recently agreed upon a new dream for her to strive for: to become a teacher. Endi