Remote school with NZ ties trains technicians

Unique vocational studies combine classroom and practical instruction

As the only foreigner working in Shandan, a remote county in Gansu province between the Gobi Desert and the Tibetan-Qinghai Plateau, Michael Forde occasionally feels isolated from his New Zealand home.

But Forde, who volunteered to teach English at Bailie Vocational School for a year, needs only to think about the school's colorful history to realize his roots are all around him. He is the 28th volunteer from his island country who has taught at the school since 1987.