Over the years, Zhang has donated her salary and bonuses given to her by governments at all levels, and even the more than 1 million yuan ($154,000) from fundraising to education and social undertakings in the impoverished mountainous area. She doesn't have any personal property: "I have everything, I have a school in my heart and thousands of children."

Her body is racked with disease and covered with pain-relieving plasters. Yet Zhang still accompanies the students in morning reading, class and self-study every day. She insists on home visits all year round, clocking up a cumulative distance of more than 110,000 kilometers, for more than 1,500 students. She is also the "mother" of more than 130 orphans in Huaping Children's Home.