Hou Changliang, who has devoted 11 years of his life to rural education across Southwest China, said he wants to "work as a firefly to illuminate children who live deep in the mountains".

As a child, Hou — born in Dongkou county of Shaoyang, Hunan province — saw the lack of teachers in remote, rural areas. Later he observed how the shortage led to severe educational problems for residents.

After graduating from college in 2011, Hou volunteered to teach at a primary school in Hechi, Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region, as part of the country's program to revitalize western China.

Despite the poor transportation, lack of internet and poor campus conditions, Hou insisted on taking the post. He visited students' homes frequently to encourage parents to send their children to school. He even helped with farm work on weekends. Thanks to his efforts, no student in his class dropped out of school, and all finished middle school.

When Hou taught at two primary schools in Bijie, Guizhou province, he helped hire another eight teachers in two years, after which he and his wife went to Zhaotong, Yunnan province. There, the newly built school had no extracurricular books, so Hou gathered them through online sources.

The couple had to pack baskets with books and carry them to the mountain because express services could not reach the area. It took three hours to walk to the mountaintop.

Hou, now in his 30s, earned only 800 yuan ($118) a month. But he said he gained much from the true friendship of students — and romance. His wife, Lei Yudan, is also a volunteer rural teacher. They took a wedding photo on the campus, surrounded by the happy faces of children.

In August, Hou left the rural school and organized a wedding ceremony in his hometown.

"We spent our youth in mountains," he said. "Although we don't want to leave, we do want to spend more time with our parents."

Many of his students were tearful at the couple's departure.

At the wedding, Hou's previous students came to be groomsmen and bridesmaids. He also shared his experiences online. He was awarded the title "Good man of Hunan" on Jan 6. He said he wanted to do more in helping rural people.