When I was a kid, my mom was busy with her business and often absent from home after I returned home from school. As my mom was illiterate, she had to draw simple symbols on paper to show what she wanted to tell us, recalled Phur Dron, a 60-year-old retiree of a foreign trade company in Lhasa.

If there was only a circle, it meant that she didn't leave food for us. If there was a line in the circle, it meant she had prepared food for us, she continued.

 
 Photo taken on Sept. 21, 2009, shows a Lhasa citizen hangs a national flag in her courtyard to greet the National Day, which falls on Oct. 1. (Photo Source chinatibetnews.com) 

In the past, the major means for people to keep in touch with one another were writing letters or sending telegrams. Now, people can get to each other via telephones or Internet, Phur Dron said while recalling the changes that have taken place in the past 60 years.

No matter what happens, people can learn about it within a minute.

Phur Dron has three siblings and the whole family relied on the small business her parents had. I am very grateful to my parents. They know how important education is to a person, said the retiree.

Though my family was poor, my parents saw to it that all their children go to school, she said emotionally.

Phut Dron's parents had to work very hard to pay for their kids' education. My elder brother didn't want to see my parents work so hard so he dropped out of school to help them.

Now in Lhasa, many children from needy families can finish their education with subsidies from the local government. With free food, accommodation and school supplies, most families don't have any burden for their kids' education. Besides, children of the farmers and herdsmen have subsidies for their education.

Talking about her present life, Phur Dron said that she was very satisfied. I had a hard life when I was a kid. But now my children and grandchildren all lead a happy life. Both of her two daughters have jobs and one granddaughter studies at a middle school in east China Zhejinag Province. All my children are very nice to my husband and me.