When Cuicui was diagnosed with AIDS at age 6, her parents had already died of the disease and her foster parents had gotten divorced.

Her aunt sent Cuicui to the Linfen Third People's Hospital in Shanxi Province for treatment in 2006, where she showed signs of improvement.

However, two years later, she was sent back to hospital again for severe depression - the girl had been asked to sit alone in the corner of the classroom because other children were afraid of touching her.

Cuicui is far from the only HIV-impacted child to suffer from discrimination. Most schools and parents are not willing to let their children stay in a classroom with an HIV carrier. "Many schools expel HIV carriers, or persuade them to leave, or sometimes just ask them to move out of the dormitory. These children also suffer isolation and bias from teachers and classmates, who are not willing to talk or play with them," said Chung To, founder and chairperson of the Chi Heng Foundation, a Hong Kong charity targeting HIV-impacted children.

Compared with other underage HIV carriers forced to stay away from school, Cuicui was lucky. The girl, now 13 years old, lives and studies at the Linfen Red Ribbon School. There, she will never be exiled to the back of the class or mocked for her condition.

Established in 2006 in North China's Shanxi Province, the Linfen Red Ribbon School is China's first and only school for children affected by HIV/AIDS. Founded by a hospital director, the boarding school now has 25 underage HIV carriers, and offers primary and junior middle school education. But the school has been controversial since the day it opened.