"And parents do not see the need to spend on such kind of education. The first time we met local villagers and tried to spread the idea of free art classes, the crowd was so quiet and nobody even raised a question, because what we were talking about sounded strange to them."

The village relies on growing corn and wheat as well as tourism because of its location, which is near the picturesque Baiyangdian Lake.

While most of the symphony and painting lessons were conducted by college students, ballet was taught by Guan Yu and his wife Zhang Ping, two professional teachers from the ballet department of Beijing Dance Academy.

Guan, 42, vividly remembers the day he met the girls for the first time.

Eighteen girls stood in a freezing classroom wearing heavy, colorful jackets, waiting for the class to begin. The classroom was not heated.

Hefeng Art Foundation founder Li Feng (middle) on a boat in Baiyangdian Lake with other members of his art education project.

Having taught ballet for more than 20 years in various universities and performed in some of the best theaters worldwide, Guan was speechless at the scene, as the girls looked at him with their eyes full of hope and excitement.

The 18 girls were selected from more than 100 applicants from three primary schools.

Li Feng recalls the day when parents brought their children to him for the audition. "It was like the art test of the college entrance exam," he says.

The children and their parents have to start with the basics. Guan and Zhang's first ballet class started with stressing to the parents and children that they had to take off their shoes before entering the dance studio.

During their second class, Guan taught the parents how to help their girls to do up their hair.

"This is something that I have never done before," he says of that eventful day.

"The girls do almost anything that we tell them to 100 percent, no matter how hard it is."

Li Ziyi now spends her weekends taking ballet classes, and practices ballet two hours a day at home after school, on a yoga mat donated to every child by the foundation. Like many girls in rural areas, she is very shy and not talkative in front of strangers. But upon asking the question, "Do you love ballet?", her eyes light up.

"Very much," she says, smiling brightly.

Li Jiapei is a 20-year-old junior from the Central Academy of Music, majoring in the violin, an instrument she has been learning since she was 6.