Young photographer records left-behind kids' new year resolutions

A collage of 48 of the 60 left-behind children photographed by local photographer Li Guangbo in rural Nanchuan District, Southwest China's Chongqing Municipality.[Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]

"(The saddest thing this year) is that I cannot celebrate my birthday with my parents."

A group of 60 left-behind children between the ages of 6 and 12 in a primary school in rural Nanchuan District of Chongqing shared their feelings and new year resolutions with local photographer Li Guangbo before the Spring Festival.

"I want to have dinner with my parents every day," one child said.

"I am so happy my dad will stay after the Spring Festival," said another.

The 22-year-old shutterbug has snapped pictures of over 2,000 people ages 3 to 70 and held two exhibitions since he launched the free public program "Record your emotions" in the southwestern municipality since 2014.

This year, he did a special session for the left-behind children whose parents have left home to seek better jobs in cities. Those kids are usually raised by their grandparents or other family members.

"I always want to take pictures of the left-behind kids," Li said. "I want to know their true feelings and the differences between them and city children."

In China, migrant workers can rarely send their children to schools in cities because of the household registration system, or hukou.

It is estimated that there are about 270 million migrant workers and over nine million left-behind children in China.