Special report: Reconstruction After Earthquake

Three middle school students from southwest China's quake-hit Sichuan Province bid adieu to Chinese Ambassador Zhang Chunxiang at airport in Budapest, Hungary, Aug. 25, 2008. Fifty middle school students from southwest China's quake-hit Sichuan Province left for home Monday after spending three weeks of recuperation in Hungary at the invitation of the country's government. (Xinhua/Yang Yongqian) (Xinhua Photo) Photo Gallery>>>

    BUDAPEST, Aug. 25 (Xinhua) -- Fifty middle school students from southwest China's quake-hit Sichuan Province left for home Monday after spending three weeks of recuperation in Hungary at the invitation of the country's government.

    Several Hungarian Foreign Ministry dignitaries, Chinese Ambassador Zhang Chunxiang and members of his staff saw off the Chinese students at the airport.

    The deputy director of the Foreign Ministry's Department for Asia and the Pacific, Kuti Laszlo, expressed satisfaction at the successful completion of the rehabilitation project, adding that he believes the students were returning home as friends of the Hungarian people.

    Sun Ling, the leader of the group of students, said they had recuperated very well in Hungary.

    The students also said they had learned a lot during their stay in the central European country.

    "We learned the spirit of teamwork, and to be strong and brave," said Liu Congyu, a member of the group.

    The students, aged between 13 and 16 years, are from Dujiangyan and Pengzhou cities in Sichuan, which were hit hardest by the devastating May 12 earthquake.