The teachers who sacrificed their lives to save students during the Sichuan earthquake are gone, but they will always be remembered.

Four headmasters and teachers from the earthquake-affected area shared the stories of the heroic teachers to 1,000 Hong Kong students at a school on Friday.

One of the many heroes was Zhang Jiachun, a teacher from Beichuan Middle School in Mianyang, who stood against a classroom's doorframe and let children run under his arms.

But he was unable to support the frame for long and succumbed to the crushing weight.

With his head bleeding and the lower limbs buried in ruins, another teacher at the school, Li Jiaping, was still thinking of the children.

"As she lay dying, she asked children to be strong and told them she would give them her blessing from the next world," recalled Liu Yachun, headmaster of the school.

Dong Xuefeng, a teacher from Yingxiu Primary School in Wenchuan county told Hong Kong students that at the time of the earthquake, all the teachers had in mind was rescuing as many children as possible.

"We kept telling children who were being buried under buildings that we would try to rescue them," he said.

Math teacher Zhang Miya spread his arms like an eagle, holding a child under each one.

When Zhang died, his arms were still spread open, showing how hard he had tried to protect the children, Dong said.

He was also impressed with the children, who remained strong and optimistic in facing the disaster.

Zhou Yulan, a teacher from Hong Yan Town Center Primary School in Pengzhou city, saved 52 children from a nursery class.

Wanting to get everyone out, she came back to the classroom four times in a few minutes and successfully cleared all the students from the classroom.

With four months having elapsed since the earthquake struck Sichuan, all schools in the province have already resumed classes in the new school year.

Chan Wai-kai, headmaster of the secondary school session of Hong Kong Baptist University-affiliated school Wong Kam Fai Secondary School and Primary School, noted that it is a good chance for Hong Kong students to learn from the life-saving efforts of the teachers from Sichuan.

"Through the teachers' sharing, we hope students can understand more about earthquakes, as well as the relationships between human beings and nature," he said.

"We also hope students can treasure what they have, as Hong Kong has an excellent environment compared with Sichuan."

(HK Edition 09/13/2008 page1)