16 years of dedication to helping rural girls chase their dreams through education, knowledge

Zhang Guimei, principal of the Huaping Senior High School for Girls, sings with students on the way back to school after exams in Lijiang, southwest China's Yunnan province, on June 7, 2026.

This year's national college entrance exam, also known as the gaokao, kicked off on Sunday nationwide. At the Huaping Senior High School for Girls, 69-year-old Zhang Guimei, the principal of the school, has seen examinees off for the college entrance exam for 16 consecutive years since the school's first group of graduates took the exam in 2011.

Zhang, the principal of a girls school in Yunnan's mountainous areas, has been dedicated to helping rural girls improve their lives and chase their dreams through education and knowledge. (Xinhua/Hu Chao)