Full coverage: International Children's Day

In China, more than 60 million children grow up in the countryside, while their parents live and work elsewhere, according to figures the All-China Women’s Federation.

At a school in a remote town of Liaoning Province, Xu Jinying is more of a mother than a teacher.

“When the kids here want to speak their minds, they come to me and share their problems they will not tell their grandparents,” said Xu.

Han Chunshuo, who lives with his grandparents, is one of them. His parents went to South Korea eight years ago, at a time when China’s labor export was in demand. They made a promise to lift the family out of poverty. But after a few phone calls from abroad, they were never heard from again.

“He once asked me: You and grandpa can’t live forever, what can I do if both of you are gone?” said Han Chunshuo’s grandmother.

Han Chunshuo is not the only one left behind: Nearly half of his classmates in school go a full year without seeing their parents. And nothing highlights the human cost of urbanization quite like these left-behind children. For Chunshuo, there are not any fun memories of amusement parks. Instead, his childhood is filled with feelings of neglect and insecurity.

“Everyone has Mom and Dad, but I don’t. At the end of every semester when the school asks for our parent's feedback, I don’t have anyone to write the comments as my grandparents can’t read and write. I often feel envious when I see children with their parents on the street,” Han said.