Principal cooks for pupils at a rural Chinese school, repaying his childhood teachers for their kindness
- Zhang Zhanliang warms the hearts – and stomachs – of pupils whose parents work away from home
- His hot after-school meals have become both a source of nutritious food and an internet hit
When he was a lonely, fatherless third-grader, Zhang Zhanliang’s teachers were a source of comfort. They took him into their homes for meals and stitched up his ragged clothes.
Today, Zhang, 45, is the principal of a remote Chinese village school in the eastern province of Jiangxi. Inspired by the kindness of the teachers of his youth, he cooks for pupils whose parents work away from the community, offering a source of much-needed comfort.
“The children don’t lack money – they lack the company of their parents,” The Beijing News quoted Zhang as saying.
In September, Zhang set up an oven made from an old barrel on the playground and made his first meal for the children.
Four months later, his hot after-school meals have not only become a reliable source of nutritious food and a fun event for the children, they have made him a Chinese internet star.
Videos documenting the meals posted on a video-sharing website by a student teacher at the school have won more than 180,000 followers. Each video under the “Happy Little School” subject heading has got hundreds of thousands of views.