Xu Ningqiang, a teacher at a middle school in Northwest Ningxia Autonomous Region, encourages his students to make progress on the upcoming test in his class on June 26. Xu, from Nanjing, joined the West Plan in 2004, a campaign sponsored by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China to encourage undergraduates to work in the country's less developed areas for one or two years. Xiji Country where Xu's school is located is defined by the United Nations as unfit for human habitation.

Three girl students of the Hui nationality receive their certificates for the senior high school education on June 25. They hope to continue their study. The girl on the left says she admires Bill Gates and wants to make much money one day so that she can support the education in her hometown. Their teacher for maths, Sun Chaowu, is a volunteer in the "West Plan" under the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League. The place they live and have studied, Xiji County in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region in northwest China, is defined by the United Nations as unfit for human habitation.

Wang Qiang, a poor student at middle school in Xiji County in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region says he would spend another year on his junior school education if he fails in the entrance exam for a famous senior high school. Four of the 49 teachers in his schools are volunteers from other parts of China, including his teacher Sun Chaowu.

Sun Chaowu, a teacher at the Bai'ai Middle School in Xiji County in northwest China's Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region, carries a barrel of water back to his dormitory On June 25. He finishes his two years of teaching as a volunteer there that day. Sun joined the West Plan sponsored by the Central Committee of the Communist Youth League of China after he graduated from the Xiamen University in 2004. One of his students has made the best results that the school has ever had in the national maths contest for middle schools this year. Plagued by water shortage, Xiji Country is defined by the United Nations as unfit for human habitation.