ORIGINAL Chinese stage play “Teacher Guimei,” which tells the story of Zhang Guimei, principal of China’s first all-free high school for female students from poor families, kicks off Tuesday at Beijing’s Poly Theater.

This is the play’s second run in the city following its debut in March. The show is based on the touching true story of the 64-year-old educator.

She has dedicated her life to educating girls in a remote, mountainous region in Southwest China’s Yunnan Province, where she started the country’s first free high school for female students.

Despite its disadvantageous location and limited resources, Zhang’s school ranked top in terms of the percentage of students enrolled by universities in Lijiang, Yunnan Province. Since 2008, nearly 2,000 girls from Zhang’s school have entered universities and changed their lives through education.

The start-up fund for the school was raised by Zhang, who took to the streets to ask for donations. The school became stable in finance when her aspirations were covered by media reports in 2007 and donations flooded in from across the country.

Zhang was recognized as one of the “top 10 people who moved China in 2020.” She was also a recipient of China’s July 1 Medal.

The stage play was created by the provincial theater of Yunnan and debuted in Kunming, the provincial capital in June 2021.

(Global Times)