Perhaps sixth-grade Wang Xingzhong best sums up the impression that his school gives when he says, "It's just like being at home thanks to the teachers' care", with music playing in the background, pupils having their physical education class out on the playground, and the cooks preparing a nutritious lunch.
Welcome to undeveloped Majiang county, Guizhou province and the Longchang primary boarding school which has put a tremendous amount of effort into developing the school into a "home" for children who have been left-behind as their parents went looking for work far from home.
Zhao Huafu, the head of the school, explains, "There are as many as 663 students enrolled in this elementary school, however, 44.6 percent of them are left-behind children."
In the background you can hear, "Mom, morning exercise has just finished, how are you and dad doing?" That's Wang Jinjie from fifth grade speaking in a long-distance call to her parents working in coastal Zhejiang province using a phone provided by the school.
The little girl, who can only see her parents during Spring Festival, uses the phone in the dormitory and says, "I can call free of charge and even do a video call."
The dormitory arrangement helps because students from the same village get a chance to live together and can keep each other company.
The person responsible for the children's accommodation, Yang Ren'en, concludes, "We have eight teachers dedicated to their living," and adds that there are teachers standing by round the clock.
