Tien Ching grew up in Beijing and attended a privileged girls-only school along with the daughters of Mao, Deng and other high-ranking communist officials. Due to the Cultural Revolution, her dream of attending university was shattered when she was sent to Gansu province and worked in a factory for eight years. In 1983 she moved to Canada and owned and managed an art gallery for over 20 years. She founded Educating Girls of Rural China (EGRC) in 2005 with the aim of offering girls in rural China access to education, an opportunity she did not receive. Since then, EGRC has sponsored the education of more than 500 financially-challenged rural young women, and has achieved a 100% graduation rate. Each year Tien Ching personally interviews and meets students sponsored.