By WANG QIAN

I was born in 1982, in the Yimeng mountain area of Shandong Province, one of the poorest regions in east China. The local people there still have a feudalistic mentality, and firmly believe that men are superior to women. Living in such an environment, my mother and I have had to struggle hard to live a decent life.

My father left the family when I was an infant to go to Shanghai to earn money -- an uncommon practice among farmers at that time. He seldom returned home, and so my memories of him are few. The only thing I do remember is that he would give money to my mother and bring us back new colorful clothes.

My father's work went well, and the three of us, my mother, elder sister and I, looked forward to going to the big city for a change of life. But this dream was shattered one day when my father asked my mother for a divorce. He had met another woman in Shanghai who had already borne his child. My mother signed the divorce agreement wordlessly, choking back her tears. Later, my sister went to live with my father in Shanghai, so it was my mother that single handedly brought me up. In a backward area such as my home village, divorce is considered a scandal. My mother was obliged to take on all the hard labor involved in rural life while wearing a mantle of shame.

Life thus became much harder. Each morning my mother made my breakfast and left it on the stove to keep warm before going out to do the farm work. The soil in our village is poor, and the market price for farm products low, but we nevertheless coped to the extent that my mother was able to save money for my schooling. She was a loving but strict parent, encouraging me to study, and always making sure that I did my homework. She would often say, "Men are not superior to women, and boys are no more intelligent than girls. If women are to improve their social status, they need better education." I could see that I was my mother's only hope, and could not disappoint her. I studied hard from primary school right through to high school, and was always among the top students. My hard work paid off, and on finishing high school I was offered a place at Yangzhou University. I am now a college student, and my mother is very proud of me. Few people from our village have gone to university, particularly girls.

I will never forget the day I left the village for Yangzhou. Our straitened financial circumstances prevented my mother from accompanying me to the university campus, so she saw me off at the county bus station. Seeing her standing there, thin, pale, and so much older-looking than other women of her age after her years of hard labor, I could not hold back my tears.

As my mother never learned to read or write, she could not write me letters. At times when she missed me badly, she would make a long distance phone call, each time saying in the time-honored Chinese tradition, "Take good care of yourself, and don't worry about me. I am very well. Don't go without anything just to save money."

I don't know how I can ever repay my mother for the sacrifices she made. It seems all I can do is to study hard. My good scores at school won me a scholarship and the national subsidy for impoverished students. This was not, however, enough to pay my tuition fees and living expenses. So I have from time to time taken on odd jobs to find the necessary funds, rather than rely completely on my mother.

This, then, is the story of my mother and me -- two women struggling against adversity in order to gain a better life. I will continue to do my utmost to excel in all I do for my beloved mother, who has endured so much physical and psychological hardship. My mother's illiteracy has never impeded her from teaching me how to be independent and maintain self-esteem. This I have learned from her personal example.

WANG QIAN is a student at the Accounting Department of the Commercial Institute of Yangzhou University.