China 'frost boy' returns to original school

A poverty-stricken schoolchild in southwest China's Yunnan Province, who was dubbed "frost boy," has returned to his original school after just one week at a private boarding school.

Third-grader Wang Fuman attracted public attention for a second time following media reports that he was forced to leave the private school where he had been offered free boarding.

Wang became an online sensation in January when a photo showing him arriving at school in a thin jacket with rosy cheeks and frost-covered hair after a one-and-a-half-hour walk went viral on social media.

Wang had trekked a more than four-km mountain road from his home to Zhuanshanbao primary school at an elevation of 2,850 meters in Ludian County on the freezing morning.

His hair, eyebrows and eyelashes were covered with ice. His teacher snapped a photo of him and posted it on WeChat, a popular Chinese messaging app. Wang's story soon moved millions of Chinese, who called him "frost boy," and many making donations to help the boy's family.

After the Chinese New Year, which fell on Feb. 16 this year, Xinhua School, a private boarding school in Zhaotong, offered the boy and his sister a chance of free boarding education, which was accepted by the children's father.

The private school is more than 40 kilometers away from their home.

So why did the kids leave the private school then?　

The headmaster of Xinhua School, who gave his surname Yang, said " frequent media interviews and visits by people from all walks of life disrupted the school," adding "Students here can only go home once a month" and they were "worried that the boy could not handle this and his studies would be affected." 

[The audio clip is from Studio+, produced by CRI] 

(News source: Xinhua)