Rewi Alley's approach to education equipped rural people with industrial skills, report Chen Meiling in Beijing and Ma Jingna in Lanzhou.

When New Zealander Rewi Alley passed through Shandan county, Zhangye of Gansu province, in the summer of 1943, he was impressed, as the natural landscape of the poor, remote and small county, featuring stunning hills and grassland, reminded him of his hometown of Springfield, Canterbury.

He was on his way to visit Yumen Oilfield in Jiuquan, Gansu province, together with British scientist Joseph Needham, and they stopped in Shandan along the way. Alley soon realized the county was an ideal new location for his occupational school in Shuangshipu town of Baoji, Shaanxi province, which had closed as a result of the War of Resistance Against Japanese Aggression (1931-45).

Shandan was far away from the battlefield and was rich in mineral resources, which was suitable for the school's professional research and teaching, says Zhang Xingmin, deputy director of Shandan Alley memorial museum.

The educator wanted to explore a new method that combined academic study in class and practical application at factories, a system to meet the needs of China at the time.

He established Shandan Bailie School, named after Joseph Bailie (1860-1935), an American educator and a pioneer in occupational education.

Despite strong winds and heavy snow, with school equipment and other goods on carriages, the first batch of about 60 students and 27 workers arrived in Shandan in December 1944. In March 1945, the second batch of students arrived.

Over the decades, the school has trained numerous technicians in sectors such as mechanics, petroleum and agriculture, many of whom have made a contribution to the country's development.