A village in Hunan province with about 2,000 people has produced 67 professors over the years, a local newspaper reported on Monday.

Deng Yongwen, headmaster of Wusu village's Eryou Middle School, told Sanxiang Metropolis Daily that encouraging children to read is a tradition in the village, adding that villagers weigh one's education as much as their soul.

One-third of the 2,000 villagers are high-school graduates. Today, there are more than 40 university students from the village, the report added.