Chinese children endure 'world's most dangerous school run'

haidian

Xinjiang and Gansu (Liqian) are neighbouring.

Persian relations date back past 200BC, but the tale of the Persians settling in China I think is sometime around 600AD. The Romans apparently were in the area around the same time, and one tale (not verified) states a legion may have settled around 50BC.


It's quite possible, while the Tajiks of China have a Persian origin that there is some long lost Roman blood in there too. Depending on who copulated with who over the years.

As you know… People don't simply "come from the mountains".

edit on 12-1-2014 by boncho because: (no reason given)

I don't think Roman legions could've travelled this far into China.scientists found Caucasian looking mummies in Xinjiang desert which can date back to almost 4,000 years ago. and those first Xinjiang settlers maybe have some direct descedants still live in Xinjiang.
en.wikipedia.org...

Yes, but you are going back a bit. It's quite obvious they've had interactions with people since then. The Tarim mummies, and the people of that time don't account for everything.

Pliny the Elder's accounts (AD 23 – August 25, AD 79)

Their language and Persian features suggest Persian descent, then mix in either the peoples of the Tarim Basin, and possibly include the lost Romans, (if they existed.)

I don't know if Xinjiang was tested but just close by DNA evidence points to Romans being intermixed somehow. And there is quite a lot of evidence of random skirmishes or minor allegiances and of course trading between Romans and Chinese.

Chinese children endure 'world's most dangerous school run'
Four times a year, 80 children from a remote village in the Pamir mountains set off on a school run that would make most parents blanch, scaling 1000ft-high cliffs and fording swollen rivers to get to class.
By Malcolm Moore, Shanghai4:33PM GMT 15 Nov 2011

The children, aged between six and 17 years-old, live in Pili, a village of some 400 herders and farmers high up in the foothills that separate China from Tajikistan and Afghanistan.
But their school lies some 120 miles away, 50 miles of which are inaccessible to vehicles and have to be crossed on foot, or by camel.
"There is only one way to get to the village, and you have to climb up in the mountains," said Su Qin, the head teacher at Taxkorgan Town boarding school, where the children study. "The village is completely cut off. The roads only take you further away," she added.
So, four times a year, before and after the summer and winter terms, a group of teachers sets off to escort the children on the journey. It takes at least two days and one night of trekking, and the children sometimes arrive at the school as much as a week after the beginning of term.
The most dangerous part of the route is a path, which narrows to just a few inches wide, that has been cut into a cliff face some 1,000ft above the valley beneath. Without safety harnesses, the teachers gingerly shepherd their charges along.

Further along, there are four freezing rivers to wade across, a 600ft-long zip-line to slide down, and bridges that are just a single plank wide. Teachers often carry the younger children on their backs, but some have fallen in the rivers in the past, without serious injury.
"Actually the parents think it toughens the kids up, and gives them good experience," said Ms Su. "However, some of the parents are reluctant to let their children go to school. They are so cut off from the world they do not appreciate the importance that having knowledge will play in their children's lives." She said there had not been any accidents during the trips, which have run for the past two years, since the modern, three-floor school was built. "We make sure that it is always a responsible group of teachers and local officials that go, and they take good care of the children," she said.
"It is actually safer in winter because they can walk on the frozen river. They do not need to climb up the mountains and detour," she added. "Sometimes they can ride on the camels too." Ms Su said she had two boys from Pili in her music class at the school, and that both of them quite enjoyed the adventure of the trip.

"One of the boys is eleven and very talented at music, although less talented academically. He is definitely a leader. Even though he is the smallest kid in the class, he has the most authority. Both the boys are quite confident, in fact."
Guo Yukun, the local Communist party secretary, told China Central Television (CCTV) that a road is now under construction to the village. However, because of the difficulty of the terrain, it is not expected to be finished until late 2013.
"Our main task is to get these 80 primary and middle schoolchildren out of Pili village [and bring them to the school] safely. Our national policy is to make sure children have a free education. So the teachers take good care of them," he said.
Another official, named Sa'dan, admitted, however, that there are usually some jitters before the trips. "If anything happens to the children on the way, how could we face their parents?" he said.

What a will to get education and thoroughly enjoy life those kids have. Also what love is depicted within the family groups and the care and thoughts of the teachers who carry out that treck. They are heroes in the true sense of the word. (I wonder how some of our kids who think they are little princesses face up to this type of difficulty - can one imagine the tantrums)?- not that I am saying all our kids are spoilt brates etc as I know they certainly aren't. I hope the Chinese Government do something to help this group to either get a school locally or to make the trip by some means of safer and easier transport.

I believe there are traces of earlier people living with China who were fair skinned and blond, so why should some of them not have survived and been amalgamated into the black haired, brown eyed people down through the ages. Also in the past not only the Romans and British and countless other peoples marched about in Afganistan and the surrounding countries, but one only needs a few deserters to have decided to stay behind, interbreed and become part of the local peoples and their travels etc.

Galadriel
Does anyone see a special "something" in the faces of these kids?
They positively glow with life and shine with joy.
I looked through all the pics a couple times and I am amazed at the look in these children's eyes.
Beautiful.

There is a purity of innocence that is warming to the heart as well

They may be poor in our standard way of seeing it

But man are they rich in a way far more important, excellent thread SnF

Cody

reply to post by Galadriel


Aye I was just looking at these pictures and was thinking the very same thing. I wish we could see the expressions of these kids on American kids again. That would do wonders for changing the direction of this nation. Infact if kids all over the globe had the same happiness to them the world would be much better off.

Nice find OP star and flag.

Grim

What impressed you the most is their unconditional trust towards others , a natural human trust that has been long lost in most parts of this world and the great love they show to their teachers.

Kids with volunteer teachers. Those teachers all have oversea study experience and gave up their high paying jobs and went to the Pamir to work as volunteers after they saw the news on TV. they don't get paid and all cost must be paid by themselves.

AlphaHawk
reply to post by nugget1

 

It would appear their ancestry leads back to mediteranean Caucasians.

According to this WIKI article.

Interestingly, I found an article about a Chinese village that has descendants back to the Romans.

Link

They too have Caucasian characteristics.

edit on 12-1-2014 by AlphaHawk because: (no reason given)

Thank you for the links! This really opens a whole new world to explore!
The pictures are wonderful!

They are different from other Tajiks , They don't speak the same language and they look different. I think they better fit in "Pamiri people".

The Pamiris share close linguistic, cultural and religious ties with the people in Badakhshan Province in Afghanistan, the Sarikoli speakers in Taxkorgan Tajik Autonomous County in Xinjiang Province in China, the Wakhi speakers in Afghanistan and the Wakhi speakers in Upper Hunza Gojal region of Northern mountainous areas of Pakistan. In the Pamiri languages, the Pamiris refer to themselves as Pamiri or Badakhshani, a reference to the historic Badakhshan region where they live.
In China, Pamiris are referred to as ethnic Tajiks. In Afghanistan, they are recognized as ethnic Pamiris, and the Afghan National Anthem mention Pamiris (پاميريان Pāmiryān) in the list of ethnic groups of Afghanistan.

en.wikipedia.org...

DNA testing would probably yield some surprising results!

A couple of things stand out to me, though.
For one, with 80 children, it surprises me that teachers weren't brought to the village, rather than take the children to the teachers.
Another thing was the heavy influence in their daily attire, for being so remote and cut off from the world.

I sure hope caution is being taken by those 'outsiders' interacting with these people. Having little contact with the outside world, they would have no immunity to our current infectious diseases, and what is minor to use could be fatal to them.

It takes several generations to build up immunity to diseases. That's why measles are still a life-threatening illness to Native Americans.

They are not really that isolated,they still have decent size local urban towns. Tashkurgan used to be the capital of Sarikol kingdom (色勒库尔), a kingdom of the Pamir Mountains.

And Pamir is not just barren and desolate,instead the area is breathtakingly beautiful, now many highways already have already stretched to the most remote places in the mountains. the roads to reached to those children's villages had already been completed and now those kids take school shuttle buses to go to their school.

Beautiful Pamir Plateau,in the distance you can see some of the world highest mountains while driving on the mountain highways,and those oasis in the mountains are like Shangri-La,but you have to drive over many mountains to get there.

But roads and highways to get to those villages can be very treacherous ,but the scenery is breathtaking.

reply to post by haidian


The scenery in these pics is breathtaking! Thank you for sharing all of this!

reply to post by haidian


I may have a screw loose but that sounds totally cool

Adventure on a stick!!!

nugget1
reply to post by haidian

 

They don't look ME either . The blue, blue eyes, and blond haired ones almost look Nordic. In some, you can see oriental and middle eastern traits, but I don't think they were the ancestors. The Caucasian gene seems too dominant....interesting.

There's a story that at one time, a Roman legion lost a battle against Middle Eastern warriors and ended up being sold as slaves in Mongolia. They were then rescued by the Chinese:

voices.yahoo.com...

That's an interesting story..