Wang Xuebing delivers a alecture on traditional Chinese culture.[Photo by Zou Hong/ China Daily]

Practical experience

Many of the teachers also take temporary posts in grassroots governments to gain hands-on experience.

Wang Xuebin, who joined the school in 2010, spent last year working as deputy head of Xiuwen county, Guizhou province, because he felt his "lack of practical experience hindered communication with the students".

Initially, he was assigned to take charge of the county's financial affairs office and the tobacco and weather bureaus, in addition to assisting another official in overseeing cultural affairs and tourism.

Soon after he took his post, the county organized an international festival dedicated to a renowned philosopher known as Bo'an (1472-1529), but the head of local publicity department, who was in charge of the event, was hospitalized unexpectedly. As he has a background in history, Wang was asked to take the job, which involved organizing a forum and an art show.

"Although I was involved in organizing meetings or forums at university, I never oversaw any of them. This job was so stressful that it felt as though the weight of the world was on my shoulders," he recalled.

Most of the local officials regarded Wang as a stranger, and doubted his ability to organize the event. "It was difficult to get any cooperation at the start," he said, adding that he regularly worked until midnight.

"It was common to receive more than 100 phone calls a day. After I got up at 6 am, my phone kept ringing."

His dedication soon won him the trust of his colleagues: "They no longer considered me a bookworm. I won their respect because I was always in the frontline."

To identify qualified keynote speakers, he read more than 300 papers submitted by academics who had applied to join the forum. He was too busy rehearsing the event to go to bed the night before it took place.

The festival was a success, so Wang was entrusted with more tasks, including acting as interim head of the publicity department and overseeing the local justice department.

He also toured isolated areas, mobilizing social funds to help poverty-stricken students. One, a second-grader at senior high school, had packed his bags and was ready to head out to work when Wang visited to give him 3,000 yuan ($450), which enabled him to stay at school.