Tibet Up-Close: Post 90s teacher: I go where I'm needed most

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Tibet is hardly a place for glamour-seekers and those wanting easy living. Yet a growing number of younger people are heading there for work. One teacher from the post-90s generation tells CGTN's Sun Ye why she's willing to get far away from home and away from her comfort zone.

Yuan Chenchen confesses, she didn't give too much thought to deciding where to teach three years ago. She came to Naqchu, mostly, on her father's whim.

YUAN CHENCHEN TEACHER, HANGJIA MIDDLE SCHOOL "My father said I should toughen myself up and work in the country's neediest area. And I thought, well, OK."

YUAN had gone through a national programme called GO WEST for college students in the mainland to aid the nation's less-developed areas. Coming from the balmy, coastal city of Dalian, she got one of the toughest places on the list: 4,700 meters above her usual altitude, only 60 percent of her usual oxygen intake.

YUAN CHENCHEN TEACHER, HANGJIA MIDDLE SCHOOL "Here you are always fighting for your breath. You're constantly coughing. That's what's hard for me."

There are also far fewer entertainment options. But frankly, Yuan doesn't have that much time. For the 7th graders facing high-school entrance examinations, the deadline is near. And Yuan says she has turned into a 'helicopter' kind of teacher for them.

YUAN CHENCHEN TEACHER, HANGJIA MIDDLE SCHOOL "Compared to northeastern China, Tibetan students' study habits are different. I had to ask myself all the time if I need to change my methods. Now I nag them more. I urge them morning and evening to go over the lessons."

QIANGQIUSANGBA STUDENT, HANGJIA MIDDLE SCHOOL "The lessons are a bit hard, but Miss Yuan makes them interesting. I like her."

There are high hopes for the school Yuan works at. It is part of another aid program co-built by the eastern coastal cities of Hangzhou and Jiaxing, which are famous for turning out well-rounded students. It's hoped that their methods can blend into the Tibetan local mores.

SUOLANGQUZHEN TEACHER, HANGJIA MIDDLE SCHOOL "Our colleagues from the mainland are generally better trained and familiar with new gadgets and teaching methods. We learn from each other and we work and live well together."

The school still has problems unique to Tibet: it's severely understaffed.

And Yuan sometimes has to double as a chemistry, and physics teacher. Another reason she feels she's needed here.

YUAN CHENCHEN TEACHER, HANGJIA MIDDLE SCHOOL "I consider myself pretty settled here. My view is that you should stick it out with the students. You just cannot stop midway through."

Yuan says teaching in Naqchu has given her a sense of achievement and belonging that nowhere else can provide.

She also married a fellow "Go West" teacher. And both consider their destiny tied to Tibet.

SY, CGTN, TIBET AUTONOMOUS REGION.