Yang Shaoshu, a rural school teacher, guides the students to school safely in Jinlan town of Qianxi county, Guizhou province. [Photo/chinadaily.com.cn]

Yang, 56, is a teacher at Huashan primary school in Jinlan town of Qianxi county, Guizhou province. Every day in the early morning, his students in Huagang village follow him, spending more than an hour climbing the Chuantou Mountain and passing the dangerous Fengzi cliff to school.

"We live in remote areas where transportation is inconvenient and the way to school for my students is narrow and risky, so I guide them every day," Yang said calmly.

It is about four kilometers from his village to the school, and the narrow road is built by Yang with farm implements. He's used to taking a sickle with him to cut the thorns along the road.

"Rainy days are terrible. All of us crawl past the byway, because of the slippery pavement," Yang said. If a child is too young to get through alone, Yang carries them.