The eyes of dozens of her students gaze steadily at her hand, curiously but kindly.

Liu, 53, has been teaching, and writing, like this for 30 years in Chatai school, which is in the mountain village of Chatai 1,400 meters above sea level in Lichuan, a city in central China's Hubei Province.

Liu takes pride in the fact that more than 30 children she has taught have graduated from colleges and secondary technical schools.

"She offers hope for the 600 families in the mountain," a villager said.

Born in the village, Liu lost her right hand in a fire when she was only three months old. With only one hand, Liu couldn't help her family with farm work as a child. So she became determined to study hard, to make a better life for herself.

The family spent almost all its money supporting Liu at the town school.

"I was lucky because few rural families would send their daughters to school at that time," recalled Liu.

Having learnt to write with one hand and overcome her schoolmates' prejudice, Liu finished middle school with honors.

The family could not afford to send her away for further study.

But Liu's middle school diploma meant she already had a better formal education than anyone else in the village.

Nestled deep inside the mountains, the small village had difficulties attracting teachers from outside.

In 1972, the village decided to invite Liu to join the school, as its first female teacher.

Although she was clever and knowledgeable, Liu found it hard to win the respect of her students because the Chinese characters she wrote on the blackboard were always tilted.

Since she had never given up in her life, Liu asked her father to make a blackboard for her at home. Each day after school, she did nothing but practice writing on the blackboard.

"I always believe that if I want to do something, I can do it sooner or later," Liu said.

Students first

Liu Zhenxiu had many chances to leave the small village in the mountains and live in the bustling town below which offered much better living standards.

In 1974, after turning down several marriage proposals from young men in town, Liu wed Cheng Qihong, who also came from Chatai village.

Her father didn't understand why his daughter wanted to stay in the poor village and continued to teach for 9 yuan (about US$4.5 at that time) a month. He tried everything he could to persuade her to marry a man from town.

But Liu said firmly: "If I leave, who will teach the children here?"

If she has one rule, it is never to let down her students.

Once Liu had a high fever and was sick at home for a week. After she recovered, she went to her students' homes, one by one, to make up the missed lessons after school.

"I already owe my students a lot of time because I cannot write fast with my left hand on the blackboard. I could not fall deeper into debt to them because of my illness. I wanted to compensate them in any way possible," she said.

Liu's "compensation" also includes buying medicines for sick students, paying school expenses for families who cannot afford the fees, and accompanying children who live miles away from school home on rainy and snowy days.

She has thought about retirement. And she had hoped young teachers with more education than her would come and teach the students.

Some came, but none stayed for more than six months before leaving.

"It was not their fault," Liu said.

She understood why they left, because Chatai village still had no electricity, no road leading to town and no TV signal. And in winter, the wind is so strong it cuts like a knife.

Liu became a student in her own right at a college in Lichuan eight years ago to learn more and become a better teacher.

After three years of hard work, she earned a college diploma.

By then, her two sons already owned houses in town and asked Liu to live with them.

Liu turned them down as she once did to her father. "If I leave, who will teach the children?" she asked.

Now a road has been built connecting Chatai village to town. It takes only three hours to drive to town.

For Liu, it is another reason to stay, rather than go. "As long as my hand can move, I will never leave here."

(China Daily June 13, 2003)