One-on-one lessons are the only choice for old Ma and little Ma

YINCHUAN - Before the winter dawn arrived, 8-year-old Ma Fengcai had already set out on a winding road to school with a bag on his back.

His teacher, Ma Yanguo, 62, was waiting for the boy and lit the stove to warm the classroom. Ma's wife was boiling eggs.

The couple was waiting for the only student of the school in Mataozi village, Wuzhong city, in the Ningxia Hui autonomous region.