t was July 4, 2015, one day after the final exams were over. A student team of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) got on the train and started their trip to Qinghai Province in the west of China as volunteer teachers.

The team, organized by the School of English Studies, consisted of 15 SISU students from different schools. The team was named “Xishu” (西曙), which means “the Dawn of the West” in Chinese.

SISU has more than 20 teams that support education in rural areas of China during the summer vacation. Xishu is one of them. Where the team goes annually is characterized by high altitude, harsh weather and tough conditions.

Long before the trip, as early as the very beginning of last semester, team members of Xishu started to prepare for their trip. They collected clothes, stationeries, and many other items from SISU students and caring people of the society, and then they mailed them to the destination of the trip, a primary school in Huangnan Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, Qinghai Province. They also spent days and nights working out the syllabus of their teaching. They held their routine meeting once a week. Also they went out of the university to raise fund and goods.

When they finally arrived at their destination, after a long and tiresome journey, they saw the scenery that could only appear in their dreams. Transparent brooks flowed through the endless grassland. The sky was studded with twinkling stars. They were intoxicated with the masterpiece of the nature.

However, students of that primary school lived in a harsh condition. They were short of clothes and stationeries and could not even afford the tuition fee as little as 200 yuan per semester. Among those approximately 400 students, only about one or two students could be enrolled in a university in the future. Other students would never get out of the grassland during their lifetime. They might either be a shepherd or a monk.

Although team members could not breathe well because of the high altitude, they tried their best to help those kids. They distributed the goods they brought there and taught students about dream and life during class. They conducted some projects and revised their plans and syllabus every day in a crowded dorm room during their routine meetings. They still stayed up late for their assignments. The students paid them back by showing their love to the visiting teachers and great enthusiasm for learning.

Team members also played with local students after class and were surprised by their talent for singing and dancing.

Two weeks passed at the blink of an eye. It was time for departure. Team members waved and said goodbye to the students with tears in their eyes.

It was the third time for Xishu to go to that place. Things changed slowly but progressively because of their visits.