SHENZHEN: Showers could not dampen the enthusiasm of 10,000 students who gathered in this southern city to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland yesterday.

Nearly half of the students came from Hong Kong, crossing the border, to join their counterparts in Shenzhen.

The first group of 2,300 Hong Kong students arrived in Shenzhen in 50 buses in the morning and visited several places of interest in the city, including Shenzhen Museum, the training base of the armed police, Shenzhen High-tech Park, Book City and Shenzhen University.

Later, 2,000 more students arrived. They visited two entertainment venues - Window of World and Happy Valley.

The event, sponsored by the Hong Kong SAR Government and Shenzhen municipal government, was the largest gathering of students from the two bordering cities.

Hauley Chiu, a 13-year-old student at Shung Tak Catholic English College of Hong Kong, said: "Despite the weather, it was a happy, refreshing experience.

She and other members of the All Hong Kong Marching Band Union later gave a performance at Window of World, a popular theme park in Shenzhen.

"We arrived in the morning for rehearsals. I feel happy that I could take part in activities to mark the 10th anniversary of Hong Kong's return to the motherland," Chiu said.

All the students, wearing red and yellow T-shirts, attended a variety of activities including street dances, fashion shows, and martial arts performance.

All the students signed their names on a 100-meter-long banner extending their good wishes to the nation, to Hong Kong, and to the upcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic Games.

"It will be a great opportunity for Hong Kong students to have a deeper understanding of mainland cities and for teenagers from both sides to meet," Zhang Wen, deputy secretary-general of Shenzhen's Communist Youth League, said last week.

Cheng Zheng, an economy major at Shenzhen University, said the exchanges between Shenzhen and Hong Kong students are now more frequent.

"I chatted with some Hong Kong students. We might have different views but the gap I think is narrowing," Cheng said.

"I found some Hong Kong students were keen to learn the national language."

The event ended with a gala performance given by popular singers from Hong Kong and the mainland.

(China Daily 07/02/2007 page2)