Iconic 1991 photo of Chinese girl symbolises thirst for knowledge, changing lives

A 1991 black-and-white portrait photograph has become an iconic symbol of impoverished Chinese students’ yearning for knowledge, profoundly altering the life of its subject. The photograph, titled “I Want to Go to School,” captures a poignant moment of an eight-year-old Primary One girl studying at a rural school in central China’s Anhui province. Her bright eyes gaze ahead, radiating an insatiable thirst for learning. Affectionately known as “Big Eyes,” the picture was taken by photojournali...

By Fran Lu