Most students, when asked about their best graduation(毕业) gift, would probably reply, “ A car”, or “Money for a house”. Cai Kaiyuan, 21, made a difference choice. As a graduation gift to himself, he decided to work as a volunteer teacher in a distant village in Tibet.

    Cai, a student at Huan Railway Professional Technology College, at first planned to cycle from Sichuan to Tibet. It turned out cycling on a plateau(高原) was quite difficult. And it has kept changing his opinion on life. Cai's hands even became painful while cycling up a 5008-meter-high mountain, where temperatures often dropped to 18 below zero. At night, the ice covered the road and he fell off his bike three times. Little oxygen made him feel sick and weak. “At the most serious moment, I felt that was on the line,” said Cai.

    However, he also gained something unexpected. At Ya' an, a city in Sichuan, he met a group of tourists who are also university students. A girl called Wu Ling told him that she planned to work as a in a primary school in Tibet after her journey. He was impressed by the idea as she looked weak.

    It was not until he reached a family-run hotel in Shigatse that Cai's spirits began to rise. The hotel manager's two daughters enjoyed talking with him. The kids asked about his experiences on his trip, and showed him the beautiful local lakes. “They told me that they always liked to talk to guests, as they wanted to improve their Mandarin,” he said, “Their parents and many locals can only speak Tibetan.”

    Cai was moved by the girls' story. Their situation is worse and the local people have little chance to learn Mandarin because the schools are short of teacher. “1 want to do something to improve the situation for kids like them,” said Cai. His parents finally gave their agreement and his teachers also supported him.