'Snowflake boy' reflects cold rural reality

Traumatic change

Although Wang Fuman said he no longer thinks about his mother, the traumatic experience may cast a shadow over his life or even change it irrevocably, as happened to Tan Denghong.

Tan, a resident of Yumuzhai village, Hubei province, was 9 years old when his mother left their poverty-stricken family and never returned.

"She left because of the poverty. When she left, we didn't even have enough to eat," said the 39-year-old, who quit school shortly after his mother disappeared.

When he was 12, Tan left the village in Moudao township, and traveled to Guangdong province to look for work. Without parental care, he quickly went off the rails and began mixing with a bad crowd.

"My mother left and my father could not support me. I often felt hopeless and soon I just gave up hope," he said.

When he was 16, Tan moved to Jiangsu province, where he joined a gang of thieves. Luckily, he managed to turn his life around and returned to his poverty-stricken village in 2008, following in his father's footsteps by raising goats. He is not the only person in the village whose mother left because they could not bear the poverty.

"I have not seen my mother since she left. Time has clouded my memories of her, but of course I miss her. After all, she gave me life," he said.