A photo montage of graduates from Lin'an district, Hangzhou and Shibing county, Guizhou [Photo/zjol.com.cn]

A graduation photo montage consisting of images of grade nine students from two classes in schools located 1,400 kilometers apart has gone viral on the internet, local media reported on June 10.

One class is in East China while the other is in the southwest.

Zhang Biwei, an English teacher from Jincheng No.2 Middle School in Lin'an district, Hangzhou, was the person who came up with the idea behind the montage.

Zhang started to teach Class 6 in Shibing County No.3 Middle School in Qiandongnan Miao and Dong autonomous prefecture, Guizhou province in August, 2019. Prior to that, he taught Class 7 in Hangzhou for two years.

Despite leaving for a new school, Zhang kept in constant contact with his students from Hangzhou. Because of their close ties, the students expressed their wish to have their graduation photos taken together.

Since Lin'an provided comprehensive support to Shibing county in 2013, the latter's educational sector has received 6.3 million yuan ($891,846) worth of funding for improving educational facilities. It has also sent 40 groups of over 260 teachers to Southwest China and trained over 1,390 teachers from the county.