Teacher with one arm leads by example in small village

A one-armed English teacher has stayed in a small village for more than 16 years in Lushi county of Sanmenxia city, Central China's Henan province, sharing his knowledge with children in the countryside.

Wang Xiaoqi, 36, looks like any teacher sitting in a class with students. It is only when somebody would stop that they would notice that he was teaching with only his right hand.

When he was 7 years old, Wang lost his left arm in an accident. However, that did not stop him from studying hard as he believed that knowledge can change people's destiny and he wanted to do something meaningful when he grew up. In 2001, he graduated from a college. He said he knew that English teachers were needed in his hometown, so he decided to become a middle school teacher in Guanpo township, which at that time was surrounded with mountains.

He has now worked there for 16 years, teaching more than 2,000 students English.

"I love my job, it makes me happy whenever I see the students making progress and learning more," Wang said.

Wang has his own teaching method. Instead of memorizing the lessons, he knows them by heart, which means he can write on the blackboard using his right arm instead of holding the book. "It saves time in the class," he said.

In his spare time, he loves playing sports, such as table tennis and basketball, and guiding students to face life's challenges more confidently.