The special plane carrying the two taikonauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng from the Shenzhou VI spacecraft arrived at the western suburbs airport of China's capital at 9:28 Monday morning.

Chinese National Defence Minister Cai Gangchuan, accompanied by other senior officials including Qiao Qingchen, commander of PLA'sair force, and Chen Bingde, chief commander of China's manned space program, met the two taikonauts at the airport.

Fei and Nie were greeted by flowers and cheerful claps at the airport.

The two landed safely in the northern China grasslands earlier Monday morning.

Shortly after their landing, the two taikonauts went through a medical checkup and had a light meal with chocolate and Chinese herbal tea served in a first-aid helicopter.

Both said they are satisfied with the working conditions during the 115.32-hour space voyage which covered 3.25 million kilograms.

(Xinhua News Agency October 17, 2005)