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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, May 05, 2003

College Students in China Celebrate Special Youth Day

May 4 is China's traditional Youth Day, given a very special prominence this year as the Severe AcuteRespiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic cut short the May Day holiday.


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May 4th Youth Day at University Camp
May 4 is China's traditional Youth Day, given a very special prominence this year as the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS) epidemic cut short the May Day holiday.

In the absence of big, joyous organized celebrations, Chinese college students celebrated the holiday in their own special ways.

At prestigious Beijing University, a traditional Chinese concert was staged by the university band at Weiming Lake, and thesound of melodious flute music attracted a number of students.

Meanwhile, various sports activities like kite flying, jogging and volleyball took place all over the campus.


May 4th Youth Day at Camp
"These outdoor activities get students out of the dormitories and are very good to students' health," said Ma Boyin, a senior university official in charge of the youths-related work.

Ren Yan, a Law School senior, spent the whole morning at Weiming Lake, and had a good time, listening to the music and reading books.

She and her classmates now feels at ease and relaxed after undergoing through a period of worries to balance, and then on to retrospection.

"We began to have an in-depth awareness of the value of life and personal responsibility," said Ren.

Quoting an old saying, she said, "Trials and tribulations regenerate a nation," and this would "help young people to mature more quickly."

To prevent and contain the spread of SARS disease, many colleges and universities have adopted rigid and stringent identity checks.

Volunteers at Beijing University helped reinforce campus security guards at gates and campus dining halls, checking the identity of passing students.

Shi Shanfeng, a student at the school of government management, chose guard duty on Youth Day.

"I am very pleased to do something in the fight against the SARS disease and I hope that our efforts help keep the disease off from our university."

Nearby, Qinghua (Tsinghua) University, another prestigious campus within the easy reach of Beijing University, adopted similar identity checks and students were required to wear special identity cards on campus.

"It's very inconvenient, but we fully understand and support these measures," said Shi Xiaojia, a graduate from Qinghua's foreign language department.

"Young people are the most energetic, lively and sensitive, yet also the most optimistic group of people. My classmates and I all believe there is practically no difficulty that we can't conquer in the end."

After doing much reading all morning, she turned to watch a public rehearsal of the university art group in the afternoon and then played volleyball with her classmates.

Although she was confined to the campus during the five-day MayDay holiday, Shi said she had a good time anyway.

"There are enough outdoor art and sports activities on campus," she recalled. "And we have learned how to face reality and adapt."

She and her classmates had begun to pay more attention to doing physical exercises and arranging their daily study.

"I take this Youth Day as the most extraordinary holiday that I've ever had."

For students in Northern China's Jiaotong University, the Youth Day was particularly special.

They were told that the quarantine of the university's three dormitory buildings would be lifted on May 8.

Not a single SARS case had been spotted since April 24 when the buildings were first quarantined.

Thirty-eight students under the quarantine wrote a joint letter to medical staff, university leaders, faculty members and workers to thank them for their assiduous work during the crisis.

Moreover, local newspapers noted that students of colleges and universities in other places, too, have very much enjoyed activities on the Youth Day, their own festival.


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