Combo photo taken from 2012 till 2019 shows calligraphs of four Chinese characters meaning "to be a person of exemplary virtue and a true model of the students" written by 210 teachers working in mountain areas of south China's Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region. Since 2012, reporter has visited 250 teachers in remote mountain areas in Guangxi and recorded their lives. Teachers there always fill multiple roles, such as concierge and cook. There are about 16.74 million teachers in China, a 79 percent surge from the figure in 1985 when China designated Sept. 10 as Teachers' Day, the Ministry of Education said. A total of 510,000 new graduates have been recruited to rural schools of compulsory education in central and western regions since 2012, and 250,000 teachers are stationed in poverty-stricken areas, according to the ministry. (Xinhua/Lu Boan)