Humans of China: "When I Grow up I Want to Be a Pilot"

This article comes from Humans of China (WeChat ID: humans-of-china), which aims to document and tell the stories of the many varied people of this vast country, one individual at a time. In this special edition, Hack compiles interviews with several youngsters that he met during his travels.

Yunnan, Tibetan – It’s the summer holidays and I’m really happy because my school is far away, and when I have school I have to wake up early each morning to take the bus for a long time. In the summer holidays, I don’t have to! My mummy and daddy are busy working so my grandma looks after me. She is at home making cheese now. Every few days my friends help me wash my hair at the river. The water is cold but I’m used to it now. After washing my hair, it’s time to play but I don’t have a phone or an iPad. Instead, I go to find mushrooms, chase the yaks, or collect flowers and make arrangements. There are some beautiful flowers growing in the grasslands around us and sometimes we can find flowers that taste like sweets. You break off the flower and then suck out the water and it tastes really good!

Yunnan, Tibetan – When I’m older I want to be a chef. I can’t cook yet but I want to learn. My favorite thing to eat is fried rice, so I often watch videos on my phone about how to make it. I also watch my grandma cook. We have a log fire inside the log cabin we live in and she uses it to make cheese and other delicious food. I help her collect the wood in the forest behind my house when I have time. We can also find mushrooms there too.

Jiangxi, Han – I would like to be a pilot when I grow up but I know that’s not possible as I have bad eyesight. I really love to study and I’m happiest when I’m doing my homework. When I don’t receive a high score on a test I feel really sad. I also like to sing and travel. Recently my mum took me to Guilin for a holiday and I made memories that I’ll never forget. These days I miss my brother a lot as he lives and studies in Guangxi, which is far away from where we live. When I grow up I hope I can also live in another city like Shanghai or Beijing and study at a university there!

Xinjiang, Kazakh – I’m in fifth grade and I really want to study English because when I grow up I want to be a pilot and fly planes all over the world. I’m 11 years old now and when I was six I started to ride horses. I belong to the Kazakh ethnic group of China and we can all ride horses well. We also sometimes eat them to celebrate special occasions like weddings and when children have learned to speak our language fluently. I live in Altay and the winters here are really cold. My mum makes us socks and trousers from sheepskin that keep us warm and we have to wear really thick clothes over the top. I hope one day that I can travel to other cities in China, especially Beijing because I have a sister who is studying there. I really want to see her because I really miss her.

Photos: Cameron Hack