A young girl at a primary school in Harbin learns how to write Chinese characters in this photo published on March 26. [Photo: northeast.cn]

One hundred and eighteen primary and middle schools in Harbin in northeastern China have recently opened up Chinese character lessons to help students recognize more Hanzi, or the Chinese characters, and write them in a beautiful way.

Local media outlet Harbin Daily reported that at one primary school, the Zhaolin, students exercise how to write neat Hanzi under the guidance of teachers while listening to classic world music.

The school authority hopes that the introduction of music appreciation can make students' lessons more meaningful. Students who can recognize more characters and write neatly will be awarded with an honorable certificate.

With the predominance of computers, Chinese youngsters are facing more difficulty in remembering the Hanzi and write them correctly. The appearance of the Hanzi lessons is aimed to cope with that problem.

(CRI March 27, 2008)