On the campus of Mengdong Town Central Primary School in Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County, Yunnan Province, the sound of students reading aloud mingles with the rustling of hoes turning soil. Activities such as tilling the land, sowing seeds, picking tea, and the sight of curling smoke from cooking fires—once common rural chores—have now quietly entered various campuses across Cangyuan, becoming vivid classrooms where Wa mountain youth connect with the land and learn through hands-on experience.
At the planting base of Mengdong Town Central Primary School, the "Corn Scientific Planting and Ethnic Cuisine Innovation Practice" activity is in full swing. Using corn cultivation as the main theme, the school integrates multiple subjects, including science, Chinese, mathematics, and ethnic culture. Students participate in the entire process, from soil preparation and sowing to fertilization, pest control, and growth recording. When encountering challenges, they proactively seek guidance from local farmers and teachers. After the corn matures, the school invites intangible cultural heritage inheritors to teach the children how to make Wa ethnic specialties such as "corn leaf cakes" and corn wine, sharing the agricultural wisdom behind these foods during the labor process.
A similar educational scene unfolds at the ecological tea garden base of Tuanjie Middle School. Science teachers guide students in measuring the height of tea plants and the length of leaves; art teachers use the expansive tea gardens as natural canvases for sketching; music teachers lead cheerful folk songs amidst the aroma of tea; and chemistry teachers conduct on-site experiments to test soil pH, explaining the relationship between soil environment and tea quality. The children genuinely feel that knowledge grows from the land beneath their feet.
The scope of labor education continues to expand. The winter camp at the Cangyuan Wa Autonomous County Youth Off-Campus Activity Center offers practical life skills courses: students visit markets to select ingredients and compare prices rationally, and they visit rural households to learn how to start fires, cook meals, and manage household chores. Yang Jiaquan, the center's director, stated, "We hope the children will put down their electronic devices, use their hands to touch, their eyes to observe, and their feet to measure, truly understanding their hometown."