Boy braving snow to take test touches Chinese netizens

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A 9-year-old boy took Chinese social media Weibo by storm on Tuesday after pictures of him with frost covering his hair and eyebrows surfaced.

The frozen gate to the boy's primary school. /Weibo Photo

The boy, whose name has not been released and has been dubbed “Icy Boy,” studies in grade three at a primary school in Ludian County of Zhaotong City, southwest China’s Yunnan Province. It turned out the photo was taken by the boy’s teacher after he trekked a long way on foot in the snow on Monday morning to take a term final.

The outdoor temperature was minus 9 degrees Celsius that morning and the boy lives 4.5 kilometers from school. According to schoolmaster Fu Heng, it usually takes him more than one hour to walk to school.

The boy's hands became dry and chapped. /Weibo Photo

Fu said the boy lives with his siblings while his parents work in other cities. The school provides breakfast and lunch for students, but heating is not available in classrooms.

This photo reminds many netizens of China’s Hope Project “Big Eyes” girl Su Mingjuan, whose large, wistful eyes on a poster with the caption “I want to go to school” touched thousands of Chinese and inspired many to make donations to the education charity.

The poem that a Wechat user shared online. /CNS Photo

Social media users showed their appreciation of the boy’s hardships and determination in various ways.

Weibo user @Hedgehog-qian commented, “The hardships you endure will shine on the path ahead.”

Another user @Meijizhang_x said, “How can I get the address to deliver warm clothing for the kid?”

Users on China’s popular messaging app Wechat shared poems they composed for the boy. One user wrote the line “Wish you will not walk alone in the cold wind /Wish your hair is not white anymore.”

Li Jie, who works at a local news center near the boy’s home, noticed he got 99 out of 100 on the test paper from the photo posted online. She drew a cartoon of the boy holding the paper with the red high score, which gained many thumb-ups online.

The cartoon drawn by Li Jie. /CNS Photo

The recent frigid temperatures are hard on children attending rural schools in Yunnan. When the reporter from Chinanews.com contacted the local government, their response suggested that people donate winter goods for the poor children, not just for the boy.

On Tuesday, a charity was launched by local authorities in Zhaotong City to draw attention to the impoverished children whose parents are working away from home, CCTV reported.

Emergency meeting held on Tuesday. /Photo from ztnews.net

Local government officials also held an emergency meeting on Tuesday after pictures of the primary school student covered in frost went viral, tugging at the nation’s heartstrings.

They urged health authorities to carry out treatments for and prevention against frostbite in rural students during the cold weather season. The meeting also asked the local education watchdog to install heating facilities in schools in mountainous areas and remove potential security hazards.