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Summer classes start in port city

By Zhu Chengpei, Zhang Xiaomin and Hu Yinan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-28 09:01

DALIAN: About 3,000 students and teachers from Sichuan Province arrived over Thursday and Friday in this port city of Liaoning province as part of relocation efforts for victims of the May 12 quake.

The students are from Chengdu Neusoft Institute of Information and will be studying at the school's Dalian campus till Aug 28.

Located in Dujiangyan, the institute's main campus is 19 km away from the epicenter of the 8.0-magnitude quake. While none of its buildings collapsed in the disaster, all have been damaged.

Many of the students that relocated to Dalian, a city known for being one of the top places to live in the country, have never been north of the Yangtze River.

"We were very impressed with the journey," 19-year-old Zhao Mengmeng, who entered Chengdu Neusoft last year, said on arriving in Dalian.

Shortly after the quake, the school suspended classes and sent students home.

The students have to complete the remaining classes of the spring semester in Dalian, with some already looking forward to what they saw as a long break from regular lessons.

"The youngsters may consider it a two-month summer trip, but we have many things to worry about, such as how they can settle down and cope with locals," teacher Xiang Run said.

"We have received such a warm welcome here that I'm overwhelmed by it," she added.

Dalian vice-mayor Zhu Chengqing said the city's "government institutions, companies, schools, and citizens all volunteered to offer help in disaster relief".

A Dalian public transport company offered 40 buses to pick up the students on Thursday, while the local Hi-tech Industrial Zone group donated bedding and daily necessities worth 780,000 yuan ($113,650) to the victims.

The municipal education bureau also allocated 500,000 yuan to subsidize every student 10 yuan daily.

The Dalian Neusoft campus have allocated 750 dorm rooms and a teaching building for the Sichuan students. They have also provided computers, Internet accounts, teachers, counselors and support crew. The students' dining room is able to serve Sichuan cuisine.

"Half of our teaching buildings that were slightly damaged can be repaired in two months. They are supposed to be ready for use again in September, when the new semester begins," Hu Jingde, vice-president of the institute's Chengdu campus, said.