Film on rural teacher set for wide release Monday debuts in Jiangxi

A film on a female rural teacher arrived on screen for the first time on Monday in Yichun, East China's Jiangxi province, and is scheduled to be released nationwide on Monday, a day before the country's Teachers' Day.

The film, She Lights up the Mountain, is based on stories of Zhi Yueying, 58, who has spent about four decades educating children at remote rural primary schools in Yichun's Fengxin county.

Zhi was honored for her contributions to society with China Central Television's 2016 Touching China Award in February 2017. An excellent Party member and a national model teacher, Zhi was elected as a deputy to the 13th National People's Congress.

Zhi began teaching at age 19 at a primary school in her home county of Jinxian in Jiangxi in 1980. A little while later, at the invitation of an old classmate, she applied for a position at a new school in Niyang village, Zaoxia township.

The village, deep in the mountains of Fengxin county at an altitude of about 1,000 meters, is 45 km from the nearest town. The school was more than 200 km away from her family, who did not want her to go, but Zhi had made up her mind.

The new school in Niyang lacked all but the most basic teaching resources. Zhi had to grow vegetables herself because there was a food shortage in the village. Walking along rugged mountain trails, she and her colleagues carried textbooks and other supplies on their backs into the mountains.

The film was shot last year, and its production team expected to illustrate the country's education development, and promote the merits a teacher should have.

Zhi thanked the team for its work, and said members portrayed the pure and moving stories that she experienced in the difficult years. She also said the film reflects the relationship among people, and between people and society.