Once begging with her blind father, Chinese girl now admitted to Chengdu university's teacher training program

Zhang Yan, 19, from Nanjiang County, recently received her admission notice from the College of Physics and Electronic Engineering at Chengdu, ranked among the world's top 1,000 universities in 2025 by Times Higher Education.

Yan was accepted through a government-directed teacher training program that will guarantee her a teaching job in her hometown after graduation.

"She is the only one in the family who has ever made it to university," said her father, Zhang Shiming, Red Star News reported.

Her family has endured years of hardship. Her father lost his eyesight when she was a child, her mother lives with a mental disability, and her elder brother has an intellectual disability. At age seven, Zhang began walking the streets of Bazhong City with her father, asking strangers for food and money.

"At school some people looked at me differently," Zhang recalled. "But many teachers and classmates were very kind to me." Over time, she realized the most important thing is to build a good life for her family, SCMP reported.

She studied relentlessly, winning academic awards that now hang on the walls of the family's modest three-room home. The family survives on state allowances for people with disabilities and low-income households, and her parents run a small stall to supplement their income.

Zhang said she hopes to become a teacher to support her family and one day help children in mountain villages escape poverty.