Jianshui No.1 High School

At No. 156 Chaoyang North Road, a single brick wall separates the modern campus of Jianshui No.1 High School from the Jianshui Confucius Temple, founded in 1285. This physical boundary represents a thin line between contemporary education and centuries of scholarship.

The school began in 1917 as Jianshui County High School under its first principal, Lan Youguang. In 1928, severe banditry forced the school to flee the city gates and relocate to the Congwen Academy. By the 1950s, the institution moved directly into the Confucius Temple. For decades, students slept beneath the heavy timber beams of the main Xianshi Hall, while teachers held classes in the eastern and western wings. The scent of old wood and ink filled these sacred spaces, where young minds studied science under the watchful gaze of ancient stone sages.

In November 1999, the school merged with the Honghe Prefecture Nationalities High School, expanding its mission to support local ethnic minority groups through dedicated classes established in 1981. By 2006, the school achieved the status of a Provincial First-Class, Grade-One Complete High School.

Today, the campus spans up to 160 mu, including a vocational farm. The architecture preserves the regional aesthetic of grey tiles, white walls, and rough stone-paved paths. Within this traditional frame, modern academic life thrives. Over 5,000 students attend more than 80 classes, walking past a 4,000-square-meter library that holds 80,000 physical books.