Chengdu students' letters impress reporters during games

As the games marked the first time Chengdu had held such a high-level international sporting event, the writers expressed great pride in the city, especially their own school's 2,000-year history.

The school's predecessor was China's first public school and was known as the Stone Chamber of Wen Weng.

Wen Weng was the governor of Shu (the ancient name for Sichuan) prefecture during the Western Han Dynasty (206 BC-AD 24). He emphasized the importance of education and built the school in 141 BC to cultivate talent.

Dilli Raman Subedi, Paudel Prakash Babu and Bhattarai Ramesh Kumar, three journalists from Nepal, visited the school on Aug 5 and met Xu Deming and Yuan Jinkun, two of the letter writers.

They ate hotpot together, and Paudel Prakash Babu invited Xu and Yuan to visit Nepal. "We are now friends and hope that you can visit my home country," he said.

Chen Mai and Hu Xinye, two 16-year-old students from the school, were invited by journalists, who were touched by the sincerity expressed in their letters, to visit the Main Media Center for the games on Monday.

The two students, who are both sports fans, were impressed by the journalists' work. Chen said the center was better than he had imagined as it had sports facilities for journalists to exercise and relax.

Chen and Hu also met FISU Acting Chairman Leonz Eder and FISU Secretary General-CEO, Eric Saintrond, in the center.

After talking with the students, Saintrond and Eder wrote the following words: "The school must be very proud of its history and to have so many bright students to represent it. Never give up your own dreams. The future belongs to you!"