Humans of China: "When I Was 10 We Used Horses to Move House"

This article comes from Humans of China (WeChat ID: humans-of-china), which aims to document and tell the stories of the many varied people of this vast country, one individual at a time. In this special edition, Hack compiles interviews with several youngsters that he met during his travels.

Beijing, Han – I study three languages: Chinese, Spanish, and English. English is my favorite, but it's also important to learn Chinese. A couple of months ago I started to learn calligraphy and when we have time my grandma and grandad take me to the park to practice with a sponge and water. My grandad watches me and if I make mistakes he will help correct me. On hot days the characters disappear fast, which is a bit of a shame as sometimes the ones I write are really beautiful. At the park, a lot of people watch me as normally it's only older people who have this kind of hobby. I'm sure there are other young people in Beijing who like to do this too, but not many. 

Guizhou, Miao – At school, I’ll wear my uniform. When I’m not at school I wear the clothes my mum made for me which I like much better than my school uniform. School is close to home, I don’t have to travel far even though we live a couple of hours from the nearest city. I hope I can study well and when I grow up I want to be a doctor.

Qinghai, Tibetan – My grandma brings me to the local temple on Saturdays to have class. I don’t really like it. I try and sneak out without being noticed and play with the dogs that live in the temple. My grandad also doesn’t like to come here and he would find it hard to come as he has a bad leg and we have to walk quite far to get there. When I was just three-months-old he took me to Tibet. First, he walked three days to the closest train station and that’s where we took the train to Lhasa. It would have been better if we could have rode a horse but at that time our family didn’t have one. I can ride a horse though, but I don’t like to. When I was 10 we used horses to move house. I was riding the horse along the grasslands and we came to a river. The horse put his leg into the water which was cold and I think it must have scared him. He shook and jumped and I fell off. He carried on running and I sat there in the cold water watching him disappear into the distance. Although I like my hometown and I think it’s beautiful, when I grow up I would like to leave and become a police officer in a big city. For now, I must study hard, both Tibetan and Chinese, then I’ll try to learn English. 

READ: "When I Grow up I Want to Be a Pilot and Fly Planes All Over the World"

Photos: Cameron Hack