A Chinese student has captivated the nation after being admitted to the prestigious Peking University, where his ancestral clan held a grand celebration to honour him as the family’s first such student in a century.
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Li Guoyao, from Wenzhou, Zhejiang province in southeastern China, was admitted to the university’s Strengthening Basic Disciplines programme, where he will major in biology and basic psychology.
He is reportedly the first person in his clan in a century to attend a top-tier university.
He scored 691 in China’s national college entrance exam, or “gaokao”, and has become a beacon of hope and pride for his village, especially given his modest background.
“His father was laying bricks on construction sites to pay for his education, and his mother earned just 2,800 yuan (US$400) a month stocking shelves at a supermarket. This kid truly earned it through his own hard work!” one emotional neighbour said.
Another villager told of Li’s discipline.
He always used an old phone passed down from his father to complete practice questions, spent weekends in the village library hand-copying exam papers, and never attended a single private tutoring session throughout secondary school.
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