Retired teacher builds miniature replica of old school from recycled materials

As Chongyang Festival, a holiday honoring older people, approaches, Li Guirong, an 81-year-old retired teacher from Heihe, Heilongjiang province, prepared a gift for Heihe Experimental Primary School and her former students.

Over the past two months, Li has worked tirelessly from afternoon until late at night, often forgetting to eat and sleep. The result of her labor is a miniature replica of the school as it appeared in the 1970s and 80s, made from recycled materials.

Cardboard creates the school building, with food containers cut into transparent windows. Li used cotton swab sticks to form single and double bars, colored tissue paper to create coal piles, and medicine boxes to construct the school's iconic torch. She constructed the gift using memories from the nearly 30 years she spent teaching at the school.

During the school's centennial celebration in 2016, many former students regretted that the familiar campus memories had vanished with the renovation of old school buildings and equipment.

The loss of remembered childhoods lingered in Li's mind. In 2024, she began experimenting with making models of old residences with cardboard boxes, wire, and cotton swabs. As her skills developed, she became inspired to recreate the school's old appearance.

Li visited the school's history museum but couldn't find any old photos of the school. She would have to rely on a few photos from her album of herself and colleagues in front of the school gate and garden arch. Her daughter also helped her find four photos online to use as references.

Creating the diorama was challenging, as it was difficult to gauge proportions with the naked eye. Li remade the slide three times and redid the outdoor stairs of the teaching building five times. The colors went through 10 revisions.

Li went on to meticulously craft the flag-raising platform, flower beds, and bulletin boards, even the rarely noticed corners. She even included squat positions for the dry toilets. At last, the school looked like its former glory.

Her daughter posted photos of the work online, which quickly gained attention and sparked a wave of nostalgia in the local community. In the comments section, many residents shared their childhood memories of the school.

The miniature landscape has been encased in glass and is set to be displayed in the school history museum, adding a warm and profound humanistic touch to the upcoming holiday.