Li Chunmin says goodbye to students of the No. 1 Primary School in Chamoling Township, Riwoqe County of Qamdo, southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, May 4, 2021. In Xinhua's China Photo Archive, there is a photo of a money order taken by a Xinhua reporter 20 years ago - - the first remittance received by the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Construction Headquarters. The money order was unsigned as the remitter only put "Cadre sent to support Tibet in 1979" on it. Twenty years later, Xinhua reporters found Li Chunmin, the owner of the money order. Li, 70, worked at Tianjin Dredging Co. Ltd., a subsidiary of China Communication Construction Co., Ltd. (CCCC), before retiring. He now lives in Tianjin, north China. In 1979, in response to the national call to support Tibet, he left his four-month-old child and went to work in Riwoqe County of Qamdo, which is nearly 3,000 kilometers away from his hometown Tianjin. Riwoqe, meaning "big mountain" in Tibetan, is located in the northeast of Tibet, with an average altitude of about 4,500 meters. Li worked in Tibet for five years since 1979. There, he saw the once inconvenient transportation and poor educational conditions. Years after Li had been back to Tianjin, he was still concerned about Tibet. Li wanted to continue to contribute to the development of Tibet. Thus during the construction of the Qinghai-Tibet railway, Li donated money to the Qinghai-Tibet Railway Headquarters every year from 2001 to 2006, when the railway was completed. The Qinghai-Tibet railway, which began construction in 2001, is the world's longest railway built on a plateau, with its highest point 5,072 meters above sea level. In 1993, Li Chunmin returned to Riwoqe County to visit the place where he once worked. When passing a local school, he found that the windows of the classroom had no glass, with only plastic sheets pasted up. When the wind whistled in, the children shivered with cold. This scene made Li Chunmin feel so distressed, that he donated his money and told the school to install glass in the classroom. Since then, Li has dedicated himself to improving the teaching conditions in Riwoqe County. In 2007, Li Chunmin initiated the "Qixing" Student Aid Award Fund. The fund has been annually rewarded and supported teachers and students from poor families with excellent academic performance in Riwoqe County. It also helps to improve the local teaching facilities. At present, the fund has raised nearly ten million yuan (1.55 million U.S. dollars), including Li Chunmin's personal donation of more than one million yuan, benefiting more than 5,000 teachers and students, and covering 15 schools. For more than a decade, Li Chunmin has been visiting Tibet almost every year to carry out student aid activities. He helped install solar water heaters for local villagers, customize special shoes for children with one-legged disabilities, and suggest setting up biogas pilot spot to be used in households. He wrote down screen after screen of his notes on student affairs on his mobile phone. Li was born in 1951, the year of Tibet's peaceful liberation. It is a coincidence, but also a chance. "I am very lucky to have the opportunity to be attached to Tibet," said Li. "Thanks to this era, I got the chance to work in Tibet, and to establish such ties and connections with the people." This seemingly thin but energetic retired man is now busy working between school buildings in villages and towns. Just like the unsigned money orders he sent in those days, his devotion to support Tibet has always been full of responsibility and gratitude. (Xinhua/Liu Jinhai)
