Chinese children wave goodbye at the "Ocean" All-Russia Children's care center in Vladivostok, Russia, on Aug. 11, 2009. The 550 Chinese children affected by the devastating 2008 earthquake in southwestern China finished their three-week recreational trip at the care center on Tuesday and prepared to go back to China. (Xinhua/Zhang Yachen) Photo Gallery>>>

    LANZHOU, Aug. 12 (Xinhua) -- A total of 550 primary and middle school students flew back to quake-hit Chinese provinces from Russia Wednesday after completing a three-week recuperative tour.

    The teenagers, 340 from Sichuan Province, 110 from Gansu Province and 100 from Shaanxi Province, were invited by the Russian government to recuperate at the "Ocean" All-Russia Children's Care Center in Vladivostok, Far East, since July 23.

    The students boasted excellent performance at their schools and demonstrated bravery in the devastating earthquake in May last year.

Chinese children hug their Russian counsellors at the "Ocean" All-Russia Children's care center in Vladivostok, Russia, on Aug. 11, 2009.  (Xinhua/Hai Yang) Photo Gallery>>>

    "Tutors in the center treated us very friendly," eight-grader Yang Yan from Gansu's Kangxian County said. "Before our departure, everyone cried, including our tutors."

    "Tutors gave each of us a disk, which recorded wonderful moments of everyday life we had there," Yang said.

    The center made a tight schedule for the students from 8 a.m to the evening since their arrival, said Liu Yufeng, a Chinese tutor from Chengxian County in Gansu. "Students danced and sang everyday. They were so happy," he said.

    "What touched me most was the sincerity of the Russian hosts," Liu said. "They were very thoughtful."

    "I was also very happy to make friends with students from many other countries, such as Russia, Japan and Vietnam," six-grader Zhang Dapeng from Gansu's Wenxian County said. "I enjoyed learning different cultures from them."

    On May 12, 2008, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake jolted Sichuan and neighboring Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, leaving more than 87,000 dead or missing and more than 370,000 injured.

    Since 2008, two batches of more than 1,500 pupils from Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi have been invited to recuperate in Russia. Last year, the first group of 1,018 students went to Russia for rehabilitation.