Left-behind children learn independence

Jiang Meng, 15, rides a bicycle with his 11-year-old sister, Jiang Yajun, on a country road at home in Jiangwu village, Wuhe county, East China's Anhui province, July 21, 2011. The two are left behind in their home village by their parents, who have been working in Ningbo city, East China's Zhejiang province, for over a decade. They cannot even remember exactly when their parents started to leave home for work. Over the years, the siblings have seen their parents once a year only during Spring Festival - the biggest festival in China – when their parents came home for a week. Each summer vacation, when many of their classmates leave home to see their parents, they have to live with the feeling of missing their parents because traveling would cost hundreds of yuan – their living expenses for several months. Instead, during summer vacation, Jiang takes his sister to a care center for left-behind children at a middle school in Mituo town of Wuhe county. At the center, they can spend time with other left-behind students and get tutored by teachers. Meanwhile, they have to shoulder the responsibility of taking care of their elderly grandparents, whom they live with, and do the housework and field work. Through it all, the brother and sister are learning to be strong and live independently.[Photo/Xinhua]

Jiang Meng and his sister play the diabolo in Jiangwu village, Wuhe county, East China's Anhui province, July 21, 2011.[Photo/Xinhua]