CRI听力:Ceremony Held to Mark One-year Anniversary of Yushu Earthquake

It has been one year since the 7.1-magnitude earthquake jolted Yushu, a Tibetan prefecture in northwestern Qinghai province, leaving at least 400 children orphaned.

Now some of the orphans sponsored by the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children have met their new parents in Beijing.

Zhang Ru has more.

More than 30 orphans from quake-hit Yushu are singing a song named 'Grateful Heart' at a commemoration ceremony that marks the one-year anniversary of the earthquake.

The ceremony is held by the China Charities Aid Foundation for Children at Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Experimental School.

One year ago, the foundation accepted about 100 orphans from Yushu and will raise them until they are 18 years old.

Fourteen-year-old Suolanaqi has been living in Beijing for one-year. He is now studying at the Peking University Affiliated Experimental School.

"I am living well. I have learnt a lot in the school. The teachers are taking good care of us, like our parents. Their teaching methods are very good and our living standards are better than that in Yushu because many people here are concerned about our lives."

Li Jian is the teacher of 19 grade-one Yushu orphans who are studying at Beijing Haidian Foreign Language Experimental School. She says the students have changed a lot in the past year.

"When they first arrived, they didn't speak a word and never smiled. Now you can see they have changed a lot. They are lively, talkative and smile a lot. Most of them couldn't speak mandarin when they came, but now since they always communicate with their teachers and classmates, they can speak mandarin fluently."

Li says that the students also learn Tibetan, their mother tongue, here in Beijing.

To enrich the students’ life, the school also often organizes various activities for the children.

The students say that they have visited many scenic spots in Beijing such as the Bird's Nest Stadium, the Great Hall and the Beijing Museum of Natural History.

Wang Xiaojuan, who works in a technology company in Beijing has decided to sponsor two to three Yushu orphans.

"Because they are orphans, I think they lack warmth of a family. The society and the country have helped them a lot but I think each family should give these children homely love and warmth. Both my husband and son support my decision. I will take them home at weekends and during holidays."

Now the 100 orphans sponsored by the foundation are studying in Beijing, Anhui and Qinghai.

Enterprises in Beijing have donated books worth 160,000 yuan as well as 380 computers.

For CRI, I am Zhang Ru.