Reading kindles youngsters' dreams in Tibet

LHASA, June 27 (Xinhua) -- The day that Ding Zhi came to Nyima, a remote county in southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region, brought sixth grader Kalzang Gyatso closer to his dream of becoming a writer.

Ding, together with three other volunteers, spent half a month trekking more than 2,600 km, only to bring 14,000 books, 18 computers, and more than 60 cartons of stationery donated to children in the remote county, situated at an average elevation of over 5,000 meters.

Kalzang Gyatso was thrilled to find a new version of his favorite book, "The Romance of the Three Kingdoms," one of the Four Great Classical Novels of Chinese literature.

"The new book is more complete with abundant illustrations than the current version here, and I will definitely read it frequently," said Kalzang Gyatso.

"The landslides and avalanches disrupted our trip, and at first, there were 12 volunteers, but only four eventually made it due to various unexpected situations," said Ding.

"All the books were picked by experts in Beijing. It's all worth the effort as long as the students can gain something from them," he added.

"I love reading and want to become a writer too so that everyone can read books I wrote," said Kalzang Gyatso. "I'm especially fond of reading history books which I find very inspiring."

Pan Hongpei, Kalzang Gyatso's English teacher, spent hours organizing and categorizing the new books. "Books are the best gifts which nurture and enlighten the children. The students here enjoy reading very much, and sometimes they even bring books to the canteens."

To Ding, books also take up the majority of his life. He opened a library running 24 hours in Chengdu, southwest China's Sichuan Province, and across the country, he has donated 300,000 books and established 96 libraries, benefiting more than 50,000 students.

Since he visited Tibet in 2017 for the first time, he has donated books and tables to 12 schools across the region.

Speaking of his cause, the 52-year-old is quite modest. "I'm just a transporter of knowledge," he said.