(Ecns.cn)--Grey-haired, wrinkle-faced and wearing yellowed sneakers stained with mud, 40-year-old Li Xiaopeng looks nothing like the head of a kindergarten.
But in the impoverished mountain town of Lanqiao, in Lantian of Shaanxi Province, Li is well-known as the tireless founder of a special school which offers free education for local kids.
"If you ask for even one cent, they might not send their children here," said Li, who always makes sure to emphasize the "free of charge" aspect when promoting the school.
Li is also known for his unique breed of selflessness, leading many locals to suspect that he might be mad. After graduating from senior high in 1989, Li became a teacher in several villages, but scarcely earned enough money to make ends meet. His monthly salary was a mere 180 yuan ($28).
In order to take care of his wife, who suffers from schizophrenia, and their 9-year-old daughter, Li spends almost every summer working odd jobs in Xi'an, the provincial capital.
Though living from hand to mouth, Li has still chosen to invest almost all of his meager earnings in the kindergarten over the past two years.
In 2008, Li set up the school and recruited dozens of kids from several villages, who in just a couple of weeks quickly surpassed their untrained peers by learning to speak Mandarin, as well as singing and dancing.
"People in rural areas are keen on keeping face, so many parents later rushed to send their kids to my school, because they wanted their kids to be just as good," said Li.
Though the two-story building is located in a mountainous rural area, the kindergarten resembles those found in cities. In the hall on the first floor there is a children's slide and a trampoline, and each classroom is equipped with a color television, a DVD player and desks painted pink and blue. Various toys, bags, notebooks and colored crayons are also available.
"I visited kindergartens in cities and then bought supplies accordingly," said Li, who also selected educational programs for the kids, including language studies, mathematics, art, music and sports.
Li tramps over the mountains at least once a week to check whether the teachers at the kindergarten are giving lectures in Mandarin.
"Kids in villages usually start elementary education at about 10 years old, missing a golden opportunity (4-6 years old) for early education," explained Li.
The school was built on public donations solicited by Li, who once drew positive attention by returning a lost wallet to its owner.
"There was 43,756 yuan ($6,841) in it," said Li. "I never used the money, though, even when I was looking for odd jobs and paying debts."
The school is not the first such project for Li. He also started an elementary school in 1997, and successfully persuaded a charity to donate to the construction of new schoolhouses.
To apply for funding, Li rose at 4:00 a.m. to catch a bus to Xi'an, where the charity was located. Walking early in the morning, Li tumbled down bumpy mountain roads many times and once even broke his arm. He eventually convinced the charity after sitting in heavy rain for about two hours, and received 40,000 yuan ($6,253) in donations.
Li was later transferred to another poor school, where he again helped build schoolhouses with funds from another charitable institution.
Now, Li is a substitute teacher at a local primary school from Monday to Friday and a farmer on weekends. Busy as he is, he still manages to spare time to visit the kindergarten.
The teachers at the kindergarten were once Li's students, who now earn 950 yuan ($149) a month--five times higher than Li's salary.
"Your own life needs help! Just mind your own affairs!" complains Li's sister, who often chides him for his lack of concern for his own well-being, and his family's.
Li lives in a shabby house made of mud bricks, where a flashlight is the only "home appliance."
Compared to the kids in his kindergarten, who play with toys and watch TV programs, Li's own daughter must stay at home and help her parents do housework.
"Other children usually enjoy delicious food and nice clothes, but she has neither," points out Li, who says he feels sorry for his parents, wife and daughter.
"We must be truly blind to let our daughter marry you," says Li's mother-in-law.
Sometimes Li cannot sleep at night, and he considers giving up the kindergarten and finding a job in a city. But whenever he sees the kids, he can't bring himself to leave.
"Because of the skyrocketing price of rent and low wages, we are running out of money. Only about 2,000 yuan ($313) is left now," says Li, who firmly believes that the government will help them in a couple of years.
According to Li, a lack of education has led to ignorance and poverty in rural areas. "Only studying will help poor villagers change their lives," he says.
