The themed exhibition on ethnic unity and progress, along with the display wall celebrating China’s rich cultural heritage, offers a captivating experience. Unique educational activities, such as bilingual broadcasts in Mandarin and Yi, poetry recitations, and painting, all highlight ethnic unity. Stepping into the Tiger Leaping Gorge Town Primary School in Shangri-La, Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture, one immediately feels the vibrant atmosphere of ethnic harmony and progress.

Students from various ethnic groups gather together. Photo by Diji Zhuma

Tiger Leaping Gorge Town Primary School is a boarding school that provides basic education to students from various ethnic groups, including Han, Yi, Bai, Miao, Lisu, Naxi, Tibetan, and Pumi. In recent years, the school has intensified its efforts to promote ethnic unity by focusing on ideological education, cultural and sports activities, and the development of ethnic cultural programs. By establishing mechanisms that integrate education with management and service, the school fosters a strong sense of belonging to the Chinese nation, rooting the concept of "One Family, One Nation" in the hearts of both teachers and students. Today, the flowers of ethnic unity bloom across the campus.

Learning a song together. Photo by Liu Yudan

"Come on, friends, let’s swing up high, back and forth, sway and fly…" Clear, pure voices of fourth-grade students fill the music classroom as Yi, Naxi, Bai, and other ethnic students sing together, following along with their songbooks. "Our minority students are talented in singing and dancing, and they help each other learn the song quickly," says the music teacher. She adds, "Every year on Children's Day, the school organizes a series of activities to strengthen friendships among students from different ethnic backgrounds, including performances of traditional songs and dances, cultural showcases, and schoolyard events, fostering a harmonious and friendly atmosphere among classmates." 

Students from various ethnic groups happily play together. Photo by Ma Zhe

Tiger Leaping Gorge Town Primary School fully leverages the classroom as the main platform for promoting ethnic unity and progress. By tapping into educational resources that reinforce the consciousness of a shared Chinese identity, the school has developed custom textbooks and integrated ethnic unity education into all aspects of its teaching. Local landscapes, ethnic customs, and culinary culture are incorporated into open class competitions, and ethnic unity education is included in each semester’s teaching and research activities, with research projects established to deepen this focus.

"Only when our ethnic groups stand united will the future of our motherland be brighter..." echoed through the "Soma Flower" bilingual broadcast station, with students expressing heartfelt stories of ethnic unity in both Han Chinese and Yi languages. Under teacher guidance, their youthful but firm voices conveyed these messages. Additionally, the school adheres closely to the national curriculum standards, offering a full array of courses and ample classroom time. Complementing this, 18 extracurricular clubs have been introduced through the "Youth Palace Activity Classes," continuously enriching students' lives beyond the classroom.

School-based curriculum materials. Photo by Liu Yudan

To promote the heritage of ethnic culture, Tiger Leaping Gorge Town Primary School has organized activities to bring intangible cultural heritage into the classroom, with support from the Shangri-La City Intangible Cultural Heritage Center. The school’s internally published textbook, “Shangri-La City Intangible Cultural Heritage in Schools: Yi Elements Craft Manual”, features distinctly Yi cultural artwork and meticulously crafted Yi alphabet pages, each showcasing the charm of traditional culture. According to Qiu Yuhong, "With a significant proportion of Yi students in the school, the Yi culture interest class encourages students from various ethnic groups, across different grades and classes, to participate in Yi element crafts. This approach not only highlights Yi script and folklore but also fosters an appreciation and sense of responsibility among all students to cherish and carry forward ethnic traditions."

Students' works in the Yi culture interest class. Photo by Liu Yudan

When the recess bell rings, students from all grades rushed out of their classrooms and gathered on the playground, dancing to lively music in an ethnic-themed exercise routine. To enhance the cohesiveness and appeal of ethnic cultural activities and to promote communication and integration among different ethnicities, the school has meticulously choreographed an ethnic broadcast exercise routine. This routine has fostered friendship among students of various ethnicities in the gorge and has cultivated a sense of health and positivity among young children of different ethnicities.

Getting ready for the ethnic dance. Photo by Ma Zhe

"We integrate elements of excellent Chinese traditional culture and minority cultures into classrooms, dormitories, corridors, and other spaces, allowing children to be immersed from a young age, and continuously instilling the consciousness of the Chinese nation's collective identity into their hearts and blood," said Qiu Yuhong. By leveraging local resources, the school also organizes students each semester to visit red culture bases to experience the spirit of the Long March, visit farmland to learn about agricultural culture, and participate in observational and educational activities at the Tiger Leaping Gorge scenic area. The school invites inheritors of intangible cultural heritage to share stories and demonstrate woodcarving skills. In this environment of subtle influence and silent nurturing, the school aims to cultivate and strengthen the moral foundation of students and shape their character. The Tiger Leaping Gorge Primary School has made great efforts to promote education for ethnic unity and progress, earning titles such as Provincial, Prefectural, and Municipal Civilized School, Civilized Unit, and Model Unit for Ethnic Unity and Progress.

"In the future, we will continue to explore new approaches and methods to promote ethnic unity and progress under the new circumstances, making our school’s various works more distinctive and effective, and jointly writing a new chapter in the advancement of ethnic unity in the new era," said Qiu Yuhong. 

Click here to view the Chinese report 

(Editors: Amy, Jennifer )