In 2001, French journalist Pierre Haski visited a remote village in Xihaigu in the Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, one of the poorest areas in China's northwest. In Xihaigu water is precious; monthly income averages just RMB 400, and going to school is a haphazard proposition at best. However, Haski discovered just how high a premium is placed on education after a local woman, forced to remove her daughter from school, gave him the girl's diaries. Haski eventually published the diaries in the newspaper Libération, along with his notes and a series of black and white photos. The piece, entitled I Want to Go to School, touched a great number of readers and was eventually expanded into book form. Subsequently, a film version was made for French television. Thanks to the publicity, donations poured in and this tale has a happy ending – Ma Yan has gone back to school. This book may not win the Nobel Prize in Literature, but it inspires respect and admiration.
Virago Press

(c) that's Shanghai Magazine
Chief editor: Steven Crane
December 2005 issue