Leaping Out of the Well (PB Feature: The Peasant Prince)

This is the true story of Li Cunxin, the sixth of seven sons from a rural family in north-east China.

It was the 1960s. China was under Chairman Mao’s rule.

The Li family, like many, was very poor.

There was never enough food. Every night, Cunxin’s mother would pray that none of her sons would starve to death.

The boys squeezed in a tiny room. Cunxin hated his brothers’ feet in his face.They also had to walk for hours to get to school, even in winter.

Were there happy days? Yes. When Cunxin’s fath...