Astronaut Yang Liwei (left in the front) salutes to a six-year-old girl Ren Siyu (right in the front) to congratulate her joining the Young Pioneer League at a special program for Children's Day in Chengdu on Saturday, May 31, 2008. [Photo: sina.com.cn]
Heroine Olympic torch bearer Jin Jing, China's first astronaut Yang Liwei and the country's pop stars turned up Saturday night in a ceremony in Chengdu, capital of southwestern China's Sichuan Province, to celebrate Children's Day for the quake-affected kids.
The website sina.com.cn reported that the activity was part of a special quake relief program "Cheer up, Children!", co-sponsored by domestic media.
Quake-injured girl Guo Tingting (2nd from the right) receives a souvenir Olympic torch from torchbearer Jin Jing (1st from the right) at a special program for Children's Day in Chengdu on Saturday, May 31, 2008. [Photo: sina.com.cn]
Ten children were awarded with crystal cups for their feats in the earthquake relief work.
They also received special gifts and blessings from their idols, such as a basketball from Chinese NBA star Yao Ming and a pair of track shoes from Olympic champion hurdler Liu Xiang.
The optimism the children showed during the earthquake was highly praised by the celebrities.
The program "Cheer up, Children!" came to end on the same day, raising a total of 17.32 million yuan in donation.