School built to inspire pupils is lesson in hope

Facing the mountains stretching across a river valley, and under a clear azure sky, the New Era Hope School echoes with the singing and laughter of children on a Saturday morning.

The newly-constructed school offers education opportunities to minors in the impoverished Lanping county, Southwest China's Yunnan province, and provides seven extracurricular courses for students with different interests, including singing, dancing and Chinese calligraphy.

Xiong Jiying, 12, from the Pumi ethnic group, is studying in Grade 5.She transferred to the school last year, as her family moved to the county from the remote mountains.