A Russian student with an acupuncture needle in her right arm. [Photo by Huang Zhiling/chinadaily.com.cn]

Russian university students experienced having acupuncture needles put in their arms by traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) practitioners.

"It is relaxing and I feel warm," said a smiling female student while looking at a needle in her right arm.

The scenario was in a meeting room in the library of the Chengdu University of TCM in Chengdu, capital of Southwest China's Sichuan province, on Sunday.

After two TCM professors gave an introduction to TCM and acupuncture, the students asked lots of questions and tried acupuncture for themselves.

"They asked if TCM was effective in combating cancer, treating migraine headache and keeping people fit. A few expressed their willingness to study TCM in the future," said Liao Wan, an official with the Chengdu University of TCM.

The 90-plus students are among 341 Chinese and Russians from the upper and middle reaches of the Yangtze River in China and 14 republics and states along the Volga in the Russian Federation. They are attending a 12-day youth forum which ends on Saturday.

The students, split into seven groups, are attending activities at seven institutes of higher learning in Sichuan.

They attend lectures on Chinese and Sichuan culture, have informal discussions, visit sights of historical and cultural importance in the province and learn how to cook Sichuan dishes, according to Zhou Hai, an official from the provincial department of education.

Organized by the Chinese foreign ministry and Sichuan provincial departments of education and foreign and overseas Chinese affairs, the forum will be visited by State Councilor Yang Jiechi who will meet the youths on Friday.

One day before the lectures in Chengdu, an activity called the Russia Day was held at the Southwestern University of Finance and Economics in the western suburbs of Chengdu.

Russian handicrafts were on display outside the university's Student Activities Center where students gave song and dance performances for more than two hours.

"I and some Chinese participants knew little about Russia. Now we know Russia doesn't mean Moscow and Siberia only. It has many republics and states with equally rich cultural heritage," said Shen Zhuo, a 21-year-old law student from the Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in Wuhan, Central China's Hubei province.