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Yu Minhong, or Michael Yu (Simplified Chinese: 俞敏洪; born October 15, 1962 in Jiangyin, Jiangsu) is the founder and the current CEO of New Oriental Education & Technology Group Inc. (Simplified Chinese: 新东方教育科技集团), and a member of the central committee of China Democratic League. Yu Minhong is considered one of the twenty-five people that has had the greatest impact in China in the twentieth century. As the owner of one of the largest private educational services, Yu is known as the "Richest Teacher in China", and "God father of English Training".

Born in the rural area of China and suffered the darkness of the Great Chinese Culture Revolution, Yu's family was poor, but his parents' innovation and determination inspired Yu to consistently pursue his dream. Yu overcame many obstacles in his life, including childhood poverty, two failures of the university qualification exam, one-year delay of sickness in university, and several refusals of oversea studying visas. Although Yu did not have a chance to study abroad and fulfill his American Dream, he made up his mind to become an English teacher and help Chinese students learning English so that they could follow theirs.

Yu's early life was legendary, he got a chance to study in high school under her mother's help. After only one year of high school studies, he took three times of the Chinese university qualification exams. First two exams, his English grades were much lower than the requirement. But he was the kind of person that something hurt him make him stronger. Because of his strength and spirit, he beat the courses and was approved by Beijing University in 1980 which is one of the top universities in China.

After graduated from university, he wanted to be an English teacher in Beijing University and had worked there for a year. But he was rejected by the university because he was doing personal English tutoring outside the university which was prohibited by the regulation at that time.His anger made him stronger ,and he decided to make his only career.

In 1993, Yu founded New Oriental Education and Technology Group. Although the first year started with a class of only 30 students, New Oriental has grown to become one of the Chinese largest private education service provider. Approximately 70% of Chinese students who are studying in the United States and Canada now have taken English classes in New Oriental. In addition, the online education section which was developed in year 2003, has attracted more than 2 million registered users. New Oriental was the first private education company in China that listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

Yu is one of the most successful English tutor and bring big impacts in learning English in China. But Yu says he "still far from being successful". Yu has a greater ambition rather than to be merely wealthy and famous. "My biggest dream is to found a private university, and for it to be one of China's top educational institutions after 40-50 years of development. When applying for higher education, my dream is for the best high school graduates to take my university into consideration, along with the likes of Tsinghua and Beijing University."

Early life
Yu Minhong was born in a rural family. Yu helped his father to do farm-work during his childhood. In rural areas of China, many children could not attend schools because of poverty, but Yu's mother always encourage him for learning new knowledge. When Yu was in his last year of high school, he had two choices, either go back and work as a farmer or take the university qualification exam to pursue further education. For most children from rural families, university was a dream. Yu always had the wish to go out of his hometown and experience what he hadn't experienced before. Yu took the exam, and unsurprisingly, he failed because of the lack of knowledge in rural area. In the following year, he tried and failed once more. "I was extremely upset. Most rural students would give up after failing the university entrance exam twice. I also decided to quit, although I still imagined myself going to university." said Yu. Yu was not defeated by the second failure. His effort finally paid off when he was admitted to one of the best university in China - Beijing University. For Yu Minhong, this was only the first of his miracles.

When Yu first entered Beijing University, he was placed in a class for sub-standard students, because he couldn't speak standard Chinese. Yu found himself a poor student, both financially and academically. When he was freshman, he caught pneumonia and had to take a year off. These experiences had a negative impact on Yu's school life. After graduation in 1985, most of Yu's classmates went abroad for further education, Yu began to apply for US universities while teaching English in Beijing University. After three years, Yu was accepted by a university. However, he was refused several times of visa. At that time, Yu decided to teach Chinese students English and help them to study abroad.

New Oriental
As the one of the largest provider of private educational services in China, New Oriental offers educational programs include English and other foreign language trainings, overseas and domestic test preparation courses, all-subjects after school tutoring, primary and secondary school education, and online education. Based on founder Yu Minhong's groundbreaking vision, New Oriental's innovative and inspirational instruction combines humorous, interactive teaching techniques with traditional Chinese educational values.

Foundation
New Oriental School was established on November 16, 1993. Yu Minhong was the only English teacher at that time. As the enrollment at New Oriental School grew larger, Yu Minhong could no longer handle the business by himself. He visited the United States and tried to persuade his former classmates to work with him. One of them, Wang Qiang is a master`s degree graduate from the State University of New York and is also known as a "master in oral English training". "I took Yu Minhong to Princeton University to show him around the campus. To my surprise, almost every Chinese student recognized him. They would call him 'Teacher Yu'. I was amazed to see how famous he was." Said Wang Qiang.

Development
With the support and talents of his overseas friends who returned to China, Yu Minhong reconstructed the New Oriental School into the New Oriental Education and Technology Group. It is now one of the largest private educational enterprises in China, with approximately 10.5 million enrollments, 465 learning centers in 44 cities, and 29 New Oriental bookstores in fiscal year 2010. Considering his initial business started with a tutor class of 30 students, Yu created his second miracle.

In September 7, 2006, the New Oriental Education and Technology Group was listed on the New York Stock Exchange. Yu Minhong was then labeled as China's richest teacher with 800 million U.S. dollars in assets. He says that the secret to his success is hard work.

Personal Motto
Yu Minhong's words always inspire Chinese students. Some of his words become motto of students. In one of Yu's famous speeches, he stated the mission of New Oriental. “Hew a stone of hope out of a mountain of despair and you can make your life a splendid one.” In the beginning, there were no roads in the world; only as people began traveling did roads come into being. Successful roads are formed not when people roam aimlessly, but when they headed in the same direction. The same is true for New Oriental; it was formed as people gathered to study. And like a successful road, it did not achieve its success by chance. People who shared dreams and aspirations worked together to forge an exciting trail. The road ahead will be even longer and more arduous, because our goals are even grander. But with a clear mission, dedicated hearts and the pioneering spirit that has driven us from the beginning, we're certain that our strength, wisdom, and energy will enable us to write a new page in the records of China's educational undertaking. Michael Minhong Yu

Founder, Chairman, and Chief Executive Officer of New Oriental Education & Technology Group

“Spirit of a tree”

There are two kinds of person's lifestyles. The first one is to live as grass. Although you are alive and grow up every year. After all, you are grass. You absorb the rain and sun, you cannot become stronger. People can step on you without any guit though you are painful, because you are not taking seriously. So each of us should live as a tree. When you grow into a towering tree, you will be seen by people far away. They will want to approach you since you can give them a piece of shade under the hot sun. Your life itself is a beautiful scene. You are always useful for people, either you are alive or you are dead. This is what Yu Minhong wants university students to be in their lives.