As the nation enjoys the Games, victims of the May 12 Sichuan quake have not been forgotten.
Xu Li, 13, from a high school in Qingchuan, arrived in Beijing Monday with 70 other students and teachers to watch some of the events and attend a five-day camp.
They were invited by the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee.
"I cannot believe that my dream of watching the Games at the Bird's Nest is going to come true," Xu said.
Children from Sichuan province on their arrival at Beijing No 4 High School August 11 2008. About 70 primary and high school students from the quake-hit province will attend a five-day Olympic summer camp at the invitation of the Beijing Olympic Organizing Committee. [China Daily] |
"I will cherish the experience and share it with my classmates when I return home."
Students from poor families and those who have done well in their studies were chosen, Qu Liang, an official with the education department of Sichuan province, said.
"The public has not forgotten us. The Games and the trip to Beijing will help relieve some of the stress our children are facing," Qu said.
From Wednesday till the end of the Games, about 7,000 students from the quake areas of Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces will arrive in Beijing to watch the Olympic events, sponsored by 30 provinces and municipalities across the country, Yang Zhicheng, an official with the committee, said.
"The nation is greatly moved by the struggles of the survivors and their heroic deeds of saving others in the disaster," Yang said.
One boy was in the spotlight at the opening ceremony on Friday.
Lin Hao, 9, led the 1,099-member Chinese delegation together with NBA star Yao Ming, who was the team's flagbearer.
Lin is a second-grader at Yuzixi Primary School in Wenchuan county. Twenty of his 30 classmates died in the disaster. Lin is credited with saving two of them.