China Scene: East

Old farmer guides generations of children across a highway

In 1994, Zhang Guangcheng, an 83-year-old villager from Shandong province, volunteered to accompany about 600 children to school to ensure their safety. He promised there would be no traffic accidents involving the children.

Zhang decided to do the job 17 years ago when he saw that all the children from the four nearby villages had to walk about a kilometer to a primary school, and as the path crossed a highway children were involved in regular accidents.