Published : 02/08/2025

On August 2, 1974, to support the development of education in China' Xizang (previously known as "Tibet"), cities and provinces like Shanghai, Liaoning, Jiangsu, Henan, Hunan, and Sichuan, along with various departments of the State Council, selected 389 teachers to work in Xizang, making them the first group of teachers aiding Xizang.

The educational foundation in Xizang was relatively weak, with a particular shortage of teachers. The first group of 389 experienced teachers who went to aid Xizang overcame numerous difficulties such as high altitude and lack of oxygen, and resolved to contribute to the development of education in Xizang by rooting themselves in the frontier.

Upon arrival in Xizang, they were assigned to teach in eight high schools and were to assist the local government in setting up teacher training colleges in Lhasa and other places to address the shortage of teachers.

Recalling their experience of aiding Xizang, Yu Xiangdi (俞祥棣), one of the first teachers to aid Xizang, still remembers it vividly.

On July 13, 1974, she and other teachers took a train from Shanghai for three days and nights to Liuyuan, Gansu Province, rested for two days, and then took a bus through the Qinghai-Xizang Highway, entering Xizang via the Tanggula Mountains.

Yu Xiangdi said: "The teachers aiding Xizang from Shanghai had three family heirlooms - a cotton hat, an army overcoat, and a pair of shoes." With these "three treasures," Yu Xiangdi started her educational work in Xizang.

At that time, there were thousands of students. The teachers' dormitory housed two to three people per room, and the students' dormitory was just a large common bed.

All the dormitory rooms were adobe houses, with tin roofs that made a sound like a thousand troops when it rained. The ground was muddy, lacking heating equipment.

The winter temperatures both indoors and outdoors were minus 17 degrees Celsius. Due to frequent power outages from hydroelectric power, the teachers could only rely on candlelight to grade assignments in winter.

Although the conditions were very harsh, the teachers aiding Xizang were highly motivated and worked diligently to improve the basic education level in Xizang.

"Today, the Tibetan students in those classes have all become backbone-level teachers in various parts of Xizang," said Yu Xiangdi.