Everyone has certain habits in his or her own daily life. If you look at two people in two normal places, but in two different countries, their daily activities will be almost the same. Maybe they'll even be thinking the same thoughts at the same time. My day is usually happy, but sometimes sad--you can't ever tell what I'm thinking just by looking at me.

I'm a sixteen-year-old-girl, so in my daily life it's no longer possible to follow my mother and father's orders. At sixteen, I have my own lifestyle. At sixteen, I don't always want to share my private thoughts with my parents. At sixteen, we should be like the rays of the sun, choosing the things that make us happy and not worrying about what anyone else thinks. At sixteen, we shouldn't be afraid of failure.

In my life in the plateau region, I awake every morning to the sound of birds singing on the mountain, to the smell of fresh air after the rain. Every day when I wake up, I open my windows and take a breath of fresh air. It gives me a good feeling.

In the morning, I get up at 6:30 and set off from home at 7:00. On the way to school, I pass a place called "The Well" where completely uncontaminated water flows down from the mountain. If you take a sip, you'll find it's flavor is very sweet, and you'll come away refreshed and comfortable.

Then I get to the bus station. Sometimes, the bus hasn't left yet. I can read a book, prepare for my classes, and sometimes I can listen to music. Hard work gets my day off to a good start!

At 7:40, I get to school, and my class monitor collects everyone's homework. Then, I start that day's first class. After class, the monitor brings our homework to the teachers' office. The next two classes are almost the same. After the third class, we go out to the school's playground for our morning exercises. At that time, we can get happy and relax ourselves a bit, so the fourth and fifth classes are more relaxed than the first three.

We get out of class at 12 noon. At 1:00 in the afternoon, we go back to the classroom to study. In between, I can go with Qing back to her dormitory. Qing and I are good friends. During our break time, our classmates can do whatever they want. Some sleep, some play games, some watch TV, and some read stories or do homework. I can talk about personal matters of the heart with Qing during this time, talk about two sixteen-year-old girls' stories and thoughts. Sometimes we can also discuss things that are bothering our hearts. During break time, I can sneak off to talk about these things together with Qing in the garden, where we wonder at the sky together, exchange our stories, study, or talk about our feelings. This is an understanding between two people. You can say this is just two girls relating to each other about things that are too private to tell anyone else. Even better, you can say this is two girls understanding each other's hearts. At these times, two people don't have to worry about homework or other people, two people are just happy to be together, very comfortably. Some times, we sing "The First Time" together. Sometimes when I fall asleep, she covers me, and when she's sick, I skip class to go see her at home. In these times, we feel very lucky.

In the afternoon, we have three classes. After class, the two of us go buy some delicious snacks. Afternoon classes are much more relaxed than the morning classes. In gym class, sometimes I can play badminton with Qing, and sometimes we can go to the classroom and play some music and dance around. In computer class, if the two of us are tired of what we're working on, we can switch places. Qing helps me draw and I help her type essays. Qing draws stars the best. Every time I turn on the computer, all I see is stars!

At 4:20 in the afternoon, I go back to the dorm with Qing and we have fun and tell stories, and when she needs to do laundry, I help Qing clean up her room. Just like this, when we have time to ourselves, we go to take care of other things. When we have supper, we can play around with our other classmates. It's fun!

At 7:00, our evening class starts. From 7 to 7:30, we watch the news on television. You can say this is our required TV class. The next fifty minutes are class time. The teacher will give us some new material. At 8:20, we get out off class. We students who don't live at school go home. Qing usually sees me off at the school bus. Then, we go our separate ways. At this time, she never forgets to tell me a joke.

This is a day in my life at school!

After the day, it's evening, that's the way it goes--after spring is summer, then fall and winter, it's the same round cycle. Our life is also cyclical in this way--tomorrow we'll be just like this, our thoughts will be just like this.

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Following is a selection of pictures taken by Zhang Jun Xian over the course of the day: