Lessons on how to tackle poverty, from a master of the lens

Nearly 30 years ago the photographer Xie Hailong began an investigation of rural students and teachers, recording their living conditions and the stories of their striving for educational opportunities.

In 1992, when he was 41, he became a photo journalist for China Youth Daily, and visited more than 100 rural schools in 128 counties in 26 provinces over the following 10 years.

A photo he took in 1991 that told the story of Su Mingjuan, 8, with great sparkling eyes and a pencil in hand, in rural Jinzhai county, Anhui province, became a household image after it was used as a poster for Project Hope.