PUPILS SCALE NEW HEIGHTS

Meng Lidan will sit the national college entrance exam this month, with a view to becoming a teacher in her village, Nongyong, once one of the most impoverished areas in South China's Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.

She wants to enrich the minds of children and help them understand how education can transform their lives.

In 2012, Meng and her classmates at Nongyong Primary School grabbed national headlines when photos of them climbing makeshift ladders and scaling a 10-meter cliff in Nongyong village, Dahua Yao autonomous county, Hechi, Guangxi, on their way home from school, were published.

In 2014, a tunnel was built through the cliff to connect the village to Nongyong Primary School. A dormitory was also built at the school.

Over the past decade, Dahua county has seen tremendous changes. Investing 830 million yuan ($116.94 million), Dahua authorities have built and renovated more than 1,500 roads, enabling access to every village in the mountainous region. In recent years, the local government has allocated funds and resources to improve the living environment via a variety of measures, including settlement relocation, renovation of dilapidated buildings and road construction.

Meanwhile, Meng and her former classmates have entered an exciting time in their lives, as new opportunities beckon.

Some have gone on to higher education, while others have taken jobs in big cities. Several have chosen to return to the village.

Their experiences show how much life has changed as a result of the country's poverty alleviation and rural vitalization programs.