Profile | Meet China PhD student Pang Zhongwang who rises from waste collector to cultural ambassador

A doctoral student at Tsinghua University, who comes from an impoverished family and excelled in his academic pursuits to gain admission to the prestigious institution years ago, has recently returned to the media spotlight after being appointed as a government adviser for his hometown.

Pang Zhongwang gained significant attention in 2017 when he scored an impressive 684 out of 750 in China’s university entrance examination, known as gaokao, despite facing considerable challenges in his family – his father suffered from schizophrenia, and his mother had a disability affecting her lower limbs.

He was subsequently enrolled at Tsinghua, one of the top universities in China. Although domestic media depicted Pang as a struggling student, he turned down financial aid offers from entrepreneurs.

Now 26 years old, Pang is pursuing a PhD at Tsinghua in precision instruments. As a top scholar, he has already published several papers in peer-reviewed journals in China.

On May 10, the government of Pang’s hometown, Wuqiao county in Hebei province, announced that it had appointed him as a think-tank expert as well as a culture and tourism ambassador, according to the Hebei Economic Daily.