Hou Shengli, another student from the school, lights fires to cook at home in the county's Liuliangjing village. [Photo by Xu Lin/China Daily]

Upon arrival, many girls had poor Mandarin skills because they spoke the different languages of their ethnic groups. Pan recalls that, although they were straight-A students from their villages, in the early days, they needed to study very hard to keep up with their county peers.

"We studied hard and followed the instructions of our teachers. Even during weekends, we would recite texts under the shade of a tree," Pan says.

Life in town was so different and her worldview was also shifting with each new revelation. Watching TV-which even then was still just black-and-white-as well as eating apples and mooncakes were all new experiences.

"The all-girl class has changed our destiny completely. All of my former classmates have decent jobs and a few are entrepreneurs," says Pan.

Pan noticed that many of her female peers in her village discontinued their studies before finishing primary school, got married in their teenage years and became housewives and mothers.

Many impoverished families could only afford to pay for their sons to study. Daughters would be married early to help their parents get a dowry, which would be spent to help ease their family finances.

"For female students from poor families, the all-girl class becomes a goal for them to study when they see pioneers like me and my classmates," says the student-turned-teacher, adding that parents, who have seen some of them graduate from college and obtain good jobs, are more willing to send their children to school.

Pan believes that, in this era, the all-girl class is necessary, even though people's material living standards have been raised. In the digital age there are some lessons that girls learn better when they are together and can talk to each other. As children that are left behind to be looked after by grandparents, they may neglect their studies and just lose themselves playing with their smartphones, living life without a clear purpose. However, in an all-girl class, they live at school and, with good company and in a caring atmosphere, they can focus on study and strive for a happier, fruitful life.