School bags are usually used by children to carry books to school. However, things are different in a primary school in Northwest China’s Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. Apart from the usual contents, stones of various sizes have found their way into the kids?bags.

According to a media report, the primary school, located in the southern suburbs of the capital city of Urumqi, is situated in the vicinity of the “Asian Geographical Centre? close to a well-known wind gap in that region. Therefore it is windy most of the year, with recorded gusts reaching as high as force 11 on a scale of 1-12. The hardest hit area is only several kilometres away from the school. When a gale is roaring, it whips up sand and debris with such viciousness that people on the road can hardly open their eyes and drag themselves forward. Many cars have to slow down or even stop along the streets until the wind dies away.

Most kids live a long distance away from their school. Even without the windy disturbance, it usually takes them more than an hour to get there on foot. When the wind is blowing hard, it can be difficult for school children to get to school safely without a parental escort.

On such days the younger children are carried on their parents?backs, while the older ones have to fight every inch of the way in the howling wind, hauling and towing each other along. When the wind gets really bad, some old grandparents have to give up halfway and take their kids back home. And it is not unusual on terribly windy days for many students to fail to make it to school.

To prevent them from being blown away on their journey, parents put stones ?weighing as much as several kilograms ?into their kids?school bags so that they can keep themselves steady with the help of the additional weight. With such a heavy burden on their backs, walking to schools is an even greater effort. It also takes more time, with some spending as much as two hours on the road.

When school is over in the afternoon, teachers must make special arrangements to keep the schoolchildren safe on the way back home. Older, responsible children are required to help walk younger ones back if their parents do not come to pick them up. Teachers walk with the kids if they are going the same way. In addition, teachers guide the children in picking their way carefully, avoiding routes that may be subject to stronger assault by the wind, or be more treacherous.

High winds also greatly disappoint the pupils when on gusty days, sports activities and the flag-raising ceremony ?which the kids love most ?have to be cancelled. The foul weather also keeps most students at school in the middle of the day, making do with very simple food such as plain steamed buns and hot water, for lunch.

This presents a striking contrast to schools in the major cities. Here in Shanghai, kids usually study in a school near their home. They walk a short distance and enjoy a normal school life without having to worry about the abominable weather, let alone the wind. And it is not uncommon to see many kids escorted by doting parents using bikes, motorcycles, or even cars. It is so much an everyday sight that we take it as a matter of course.

Of course, the school in the above story is an isolated case. But since most kids today are growing up as the only child in the family, they live with overprotective parents and don’t know much about the hardships of life. So I hope the story can bring home to the pampered kids that not all are born as lucky as they are. They should treasure their favourable circumstances, and learn something from their underprivileged peers, especially the spirit of bearing hardships and overcoming difficulties. After all, they will be the backbone of China in the coming years.

I have read many news reports about parents here complaining about their kids?campus conditions, teaching facilities, traffic on the way, and other problems. They ask for improvements in every aspect of school life for kids, sometimes going a little far ?like the recent request to install air conditioners in classrooms, which was turned down because it was a health hazard. While that is quite understandable, such parents fail to see that their children already enjoy many comforts at school when compared to those living in poverty-stricken areas.

When I see long lines of cars outside some schools, waiting to pick up “the little emperors?and take them home, I cannot help wondering what the car owners and their children think of the comfortable life they are living. Does it ever enter their minds that there are still poor, stone-bearing pupils who struggle on the way for hours to attend school?