President Hu Jintao shares a light moment with students from quake-hit areas. He met the children in Zhongnanhai in Beijing yesterday, a day before they were to leave for Russia on President Dmitry Medvedev's invitation. Xinhua

Children had the time of their life with President Hu Jintao on Zhongnanhai compound yesterday.

As the 88 students from the quake-hit provinces of Sichuan, Shaanxi and Gansu crowded around Hu, he approached one. She glanced up and said: "Do you still remember me?"

The president smiled, held the seventh-grader in his arms, and replied: "Sure I remember you. I went to the tent hospital to see you on May 31. You were reading your elder brother's book, though still on a drip. I was very impressed."

The president had shaken hands with 12-year-old Zhao Shasha in Shaanxi province a month and a half ago, and said: "Let's make friends."

Yesterday, she met her friend again.

Zhao is part of the first batch of children from the quake-hit areas who will fly to Russia on a three-week vacation today.

During his visit to China in May, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev invited 1,000 children from the quake-hit areas to visit Russia from July 17 to Aug 5. A group of 570 was invited to do so next year.

Children in Zhao's group, most of who were injured or lost their relatives in the disaster, were visibly excited as they crowded around the president, who joined them an hour into their tour of Zhongnanhai's lake and park.

The children, some showing the "V" sign with their fingers, did not waste the precious photo opportunity with the president, who they called "Grandpa Hu", and a few were busy taking photographs on their cell phones.

"Amid quake-relief efforts, it was the children . that the Party, the government and the people . were worried about the most," Hu told the children. "I hope you'll turn this love and care into a source of motivation for maturity and progress."

"I hope you rest well, recuperate fast and recover as early as possible. I also hope you use this valuable opportunity to make friends with Russian children, and become little messengers in enhancing friendly relations between the two countries," Hu said.

The president told a Russian envoy that his country's help and invitation "reflect the Russian people's deep affection for the Chinese people, and have reassured that China and Russia are truly good neighbors, good friends and good partners".

(China Daily July 17, 2008)