Bai Suyan is not Wu Dan's biological mother, but Bai treats Wu better than her own daughter.

Bai and her adopted daughter's story has become the talk of the town after it was published by the newspaper in Yingkou, Northeast China's Liaoning Province.

Bai, a teacher at Erdao Primary School, in the city's Qikou Township, adopted Wu after learning she was an exceptional student, in 1997.

Wu had dropped out from school that year because her father could no longer afford tuition fees, after Wu's stepmother gave birth to her second child.

Wu's biological mother died when she was 8 years old.

Fourteen-year-old Wu moved into Bai's home and along with her husband, also a teacher, surnamed Shi, they have treated her as their own for the past 10 years.

They paid Wu's tuition fees and living expenses, in addition to helping the girl with her homework.

In 2000 Bai and her husband did not have enough money to cover tuition for both girls since they were earning just 600 yuan ($80) a month.

Bai's daughter agreed to quit school because she thought Wu had a better chance of passing the entrance exam. She opened a laundry after she graduated from junior high school.

But Wu did not let Bai down. She enrolled in the Chemistry Department at Shenyang Institute of Chemical Industry, Liaoning Province, after she graduated from senior high school in 2003.

Wu joined the Communist Party when she was a sophomore and was known as the most enthusiastic student on campus.

When Wu graduated from university in July this year, Wu phoned Bai and called her mother, for the first time.

Wu is now working in Lezhi County, Southwest China's Sichuan Province, supporting the country's western development strategy.

"I will work hard to repay the many kindnesses," Wu said.

(China Daily October 23, 2007)