China’s ‘Ice Boy’ has new home and new hope after viral photo sparked flood of donations
- Wang Fuman now lives in a smart house with his family and it takes him just 10 minutes to get to school
- Thriving in class, he still dreams of becoming a policeman so he can ‘catch the bad guys’
Much has changed for Chinese boy Wang Fuman in the 12 months since he became the internet star known as “Ice Boy”.
Now nine years old, Wang shot to fame in January last year after his teacher posted a photograph of him arriving at school with a mop of icicles for hair. The fancy style was the result of the youngster having just trekked for over an hour and 4.5km (2.8 miles) from his home in a mountainous region of southwest China’s Yunnan province in temperatures as low as minus 9 degrees Celsius (16 degrees Fahrenheit).
But life is a lot less challenging these days, according to a report by People.cn.
After leaving their cracked mud hut in Zhaotong, Wang and his family now live in a new two-storey home in the village of Zhuanshanbao.
More importantly, the property stands beside a paved road along which Wang has to walk just 10 minutes to get to school.
“Life is much better,” the boy’s father, Wang Gangkui, was quoted as saying. “Compared with the mud walls and muddy road [where they used to live], we are much better sheltered from the wind and rain.”
Wang works at a construction site in Kunming, the capital of Yunnan, and makes about 200 yuan (US$29) a day, which is quite high for the area.