When Zhi Yueying, then 19, went to the remote Niyang village in Yichun city, Jiangxi province, to work as a village teacher in 1980, villagers were doubtful if she was going to stay long. After all, a number of voluntary teachers had arrived before, but all had left soon after.

Zhi, though, was there for the long haul. She worked there for more than three decades, before going to a more remote village school in the mountains.

Over the past four decades, Zhi has devoted herself to rural education. She is a recipient of China Central Television's Touching China awards that recognize the most inspiring role models in 2016. She was also awarded as a model poverty fighter by the Central Committee of the Communist Party of China and the State Council, China's Cabinet, earlier this year.

Born in Nanchang city, Jiangxi, in 1961, Zhi wanted to become a teacher since childhood. She applied to work as a teacher at the primary school in Niyang village after graduation, despite her mother's strong opposition.

Located amid the mountains, the village was very poor and far from any town. Villagers had to hike in the mountains since there was no road. "I arrived at the school in an early evening, and was shocked by the poor conditions there. I had known the conditions were poor, but the reality was worse. The blackboard, door and windows were in a state of disrepair, some stools had legs missing, and desks were pieced together at different heights," recalls Zhi to Shanghai-based news portal thepaper.cn.

Moreover, local people needed to go downhill to buy daily necessities, and transport them back in their hands or balanced across their shoulders with the help of a carrying pole. "I had never walked uphill on a mountain road before, so I walked much more slowly than others, sometimes I lagged behind too much and was scared to tears," says Zhi.