Thirty secondary students who recently returned from a young astronaut training camp have described their experience as rewarding and inspirational, saying they hope to follow in the footsteps of China's astronauts and make history one day. The teenagers were selected from a pool of around 200 applicants and went through a rigorous screening process, with three rounds of interviews. Over nine days from late July, they visited the Wenchang Space Launch Site on Hainan, the Chinese Academy of Sciences in Beijing, the Jiuquan Satellite Launch Centre in Gansu province and the National Time Service Centre in Xi'an. They even got a chance to meet Liu Yang, China's first female astronaut who was part of the Shenzhou-9 mission in 2012. About 20 of the students met the press at the Space Museum in Tsim Sha Tsui on Tuesday afternoon. They included Alex Ngan, who said he was impressed by the progress achieved by the nation on space exploration. "We went from a satellite that could only know how to repeat one singular song to a space station - it's simply unthinkable," the year eight student from the Canadian International School of Hong Kong said. "To see the sites that these historic events unfolded and to actually hear from the professionals that work in this field is an amazing experience and I will remember it forever." Cheng Tin-ho, a secondary five student from Tsang Pik Shan Secondary School, was touched by the professionalism of workers at the space centre. "They work in very remote locations, far away from their families and had to endure extreme temperature changes," he said. "But they remain dedicated, devoting their lives to what they are most passionate about. I hope I can do the same in the future and contribute to society." The latest tour was fully sponsored by the Chinese General Chamber of Commerce. Now in its 13th edition, the training camp admits 30 students every year.
