More than 1,000 Chinese mentally-retarded children will enjoy blue sky, clean air, and bright sunshine together this summer, plus soft beach and sea sight -- all will be luxurious gifts beyond their expectation.
  
A special summer camp for the group of children will open this Sunday at Nandaihe, a seaside resort in north China's Hebei Province. More than 1,000 mentally retarded children and their parents were invited, and they will be divided into 15 groups, with the first group departing on July 8 for Nandaihe.
 
"I want to have a look of the sea and play with other kids," Ding Ding, a mentally retarded boy told Xinhua. 
 
Mountain climbing, swimming, and museum visiting have offered most children a colorful summer vacation, but not for mentally retarded kids in China.

Wang Lijuan, organizer of the special summer camp and president of China's first private training school for mentally retarded adults, was confident that the four-day summer camp will offer the kids an unforgettable vacation.
  
Li Huiling, an education expert on mentally retarded children, said that there are 60 million handicapped people in China, accounting for 5 percent of the country's total population; and 12 million mentally retarded people, 55 percent of whom are under 18 years.

(Xinhua News Agency July 9, 2005)