It has been more than five decades, but Liu Kuiyi still remembers vividly the emotional farewell to his Russian teacher when he got on the train to join the military.

"My Russian teacher Anna kissed me goodbye on the railway platform and gave me a handkerchief, she always treated me like her very own son," said 74-year-old Liu, one of China's first batch of bomber pilots trained by Soviet experts in the 1950s.

Like Liu, more than 20 veterans expressed their gratitude for the former Soviet Union's help to China during and after World War II, at the "Hoping for Peace" symposium held in Beijing yesterday. It was also the eve of the 63rd anniversary of the end of WWII.

The group included veterans of the Great Patriotic War of the Soviet Union, the War of Resistance against Japanese Aggression and the Korean War, as well as those who studied or worked in the former Soviet Union and descendants of the founders of New China.

China and the former Soviet Union forged historic ties in the fight against the Nazis during WWII and the early period of the construction of a new China.

The country sent thousands of students and professionals to the former Soviet Union after the establishment of the People's Republic of China in 1949, while it is estimated that Moscow dispatched more than 20,000 experts to China from 1949 to 1960 to help in the nation's development, in addition to building and financial aid.

More than 100 Chinese youngsters, most of whom were descendants of China's founding leaders, were sent to the then Soviet Union. Most prominent among these were Mao Anqing, son of Chairman Mao Zedong; Liu Aiqin, daughter of Chairman Liu Shaoqi; and Zhu Min, daughter of Marshal Zhu De.

Last year, Liu Kuiyi visited Russia, where he made a trip to Red Square and Lenin's Mausoleum in Moscow.

"I finally got the chance to see this great nation and her brave people, who provided invaluable support to the Chinese people and made great sacrifices for the victory over the Nazis in WWII," Liu said.

Xiao Shuang, daughter of Xiao Hua, one of the founding leaders of China, said her adolescent years were marked by the China-Soviet friendship and her generation is deeply influenced by Russian culture.

"I fell in love with the Russian arts when I was young. Our fascination with Russian songs and literature prompted us to form the Beijing Kalinka Choir, which is mostly made up of veterans and retired military officers who witnessed the development of the China-Russia friendship," Xiao said.

The choir visited Russia in 2004 and last year. Xiao's excitement was obvious when she recalled a performance in a church in St. Petersburg, where local people welcomed them with warm hugs and sang Russian songs together with their Chinese guests.

Vladimirov Victor, deputy military attach of the Russian embassy to China, thanked the veterans "for their contributions to the friendship between the two countries".

"The people of China and the Soviet Union used to fight side by side and cemented their friendship with blood," Victor said.

Sun Huijun, deputy secretary-general of the organizing committee of the symposium, said the veterans are most qualified to offer a retrospective of the war and pray for peace.

"People who have gone through cruel wars are most aware of how dangerous and horrible the wars are," he said.

(China Daily 05/08/2008 page2)