Zhang Gui-mei

Zhang Guimei (; born 15 June 1957) is a Chinese educator who is the founder and principal of Huaping High School for Girls, China's first and only free public high school for girls – in a poor, mountainous region in southwest China's Yunnan. She devoted her life to improving female education in China.

Early life Zhang Guimei was born into a family of ethnic Manchu minority group in Mudanjiang, Heilongjiang, on 15 June 1957, while her ancestral home is in Xiuyan Manchu Autonomous County, Liaoning. She later changed her name to Zhang Jiamei. She is the twelfth child in her family. In December of the next year, she entered the workforce and became a staff member of Zhongdian County Forestry Bureau.

Later, Zhang was admitted to Lijiang Institute of Education (now Lijiang Normal College). After graduation, she worked as a front-line administrator in the forestry system and met her husband through introduction. In 2001, the Huaping Children's Home, where orphans were adopted, was established, and she was appointed as director.

When Zhang taught in Huaping County, she came across "many girls that just disappeared before they finishing their studies".

To raise money for establishing a school, between 2002 and 2007, Zhang spent the summer and winter vacations on the streets in the provincial capital city Kunming, asking people to donate. Over the past 12 years, this high school has graduated a total of 10 classes of students, from which 1,804 girls from impoverished areas entered their dream universities. Some of these children have entered China's top universities, such as Sichuan University, Xiamen University, Wuhan University, Zhejiang University, and so on. Zhang Jiamei provided these girls the opportunities to achieve their dreams and change their social status.

Personal life In 1990, she married Dong Yuhan, an ethnic Bai man. Dong died from stomach cancer in 1994, leaving her childless. 2019 "List of Good China Man" by the Office of the Central Spiritual Civilization Construction Steering Committee 2020 "National Excellent Teachers" by the Ministry of Education of the People's Republic of China 2020 Title of "Yunling Model" by the CCP Yunnan Province Committee 2020 Title of "National March-eighth Red-banner Pacesetter" by the All-China Women's Federation December 2020 National Outstanding Communist Party Members by the Organization Department of the Chinese Communist Party 2021 Title of "Moving China Person of 2020" by the China Media Group 2021 July 1 Medal by the Central Committee of the Chinese Communist Party