The school boards more than 500 children from China’s ethnic minorities. All have their distinctive cultures, customs and religions, but it is the school’s goal to help foster a sense of community among them.

“We found that the children tended to band together, but keep a distance from those outside their group,” said Li Jingmei, a 50-year-old teacher. “They would never mingle with those who have a different religion or customs.”

Meeting the needs of this mixed bunch of pupils requires special efforts.

The school canteen, for instance, must cater to many different dietary needs.

Bai Shengjie, for instance, 17 years old, though fluent in Shanghainese and dressed like many city folk in Levis jeans and Nike cap is a Hui ethnic minority boy. That means he can’t eat pork.

“My parents never use pork because we are Muslim. It’s a religious taboo,” Bai explained. “When I left home to board here, my mother packed preserved beef into my bag, afraid I wouldn’t like the food. However, she worried needlessly, since I find the school food good,” Bai added.

But one man’s meat - or lack of - might be another man’s poison.

Since the school can only afford one dining room, pupils from those minorities that do eat pork find themselves at a disadvantage.

The Tibetan students, for example, complained that they miss pork, which is an important part of their diet.

“That was a headache for the administrators,” said Le Ting, the school head, who has worked there for two decades. “In the end, we decided to offer additional subsidies so that the Tibetan children could eat pork off-campus.” He adds that since 90 percent of his students are Muslims, this was the most economical way to solve the problem.

This preponderance of Muslim pupils is also reflected in the school’s curriculum, which offers an Arabian language course, the only one of its kind in local schools.

“The Chinese Hui minority are derived from Islamic Arabians,” said Chen Zhi, teacher of Arabian and English courses. “We hope the classes will boost their pride in their roots.”

Bai seems to agree. “This language program really attracts me,” said the 11th grader. “I find it fascinating.”

Students are as enthusiastic about learning opportunities like these as they are about the dedicated teachers, tidy studies and dormitories.

“When I first entered my dorm, I couldn’t believe my eyes - just like a hotel room,” Bai recalled. The dorms include bunk beds, desks, bookshelves, a private toilet and a telephone.

And the cost of all this is reasonable; Le Ting, a Uygur himself, explained that the tuition fees and boarding costs are lower than at other city schools, as part of the government’s preferential policies to support the minority people and regions.

The Tibetan students have been coming to the school from the remote Qinghai-Tibet Plateau since 1985, under the local government’s efforts to support the intellectual development of the hinterland. But the bold and rugged nature often irritated the Muslim kids.

And so, after more than 1,000 Tibetan students had passed through the school, Huimin transferred responsibility for them to another middle school two years ago.

Today, Gongkang Middle School in the city is responsible for them, and each year about 200 Tibetan students come to study there. Furthermore, from this September, 40 Uygur students from Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region have been receiving education at Qibao High School.

(21dnn.com 10/16/2000)