Moments of President Xi Jinping with students

BEIJING, Feb. 18 (Xinhua) -- Campuses across China are bustling with activity once again as students returned school after winter vacation at the start of the spring semester.

Attaching great importance to education, President Xi Jinping has visited multiple schools and campuses during his domestic inspection tours over the years.

The following are some moments between Xi, also general secretary of the Communist Party of China (CPC) Central Committee and chairman of the Central Military Commission, and students during such tours.

A GUEST AT SCHOOL CANTEEN

While inspecting a primary school in a mountainous area in southwest China's Chongqing Municipality in April 2019, Xi took the time to visit its canteen and kitchen. After reading files about the dining conditions, Xi inquired about food safety and subsidies for impoverished students.

He was relieved to see that the students enjoyed a nutritious lunch of four dishes and a soup. "We worked to offer each child a glass of milk and an egg every day at the beginning of our poverty alleviation drive. Now the standard has risen to 6 yuan (about 87 U.S. cents) per meal, and the food is more diverse," he said.

"These children are still young, and they are all precious to their families," Xi said, asking staff members to pay extra attention to them and ensure their safety at campus.

A CHAT ABOUT IDEALS

During an inspection tour of northwest China's Shaanxi Province in October last year, Xi visited the Zaoyuan campus of Yan'an Middle School, the first middle school established by the CPC.

While chatting with a grade-10 class, Xi asked the students about their ideals and dream careers.

"My answer was that I wanted to be a pharmaceutical chemist," recalled Zhou Yi, one of the students in the class. "I was so inspired when Grandpa Xi called me an 'ambitious young man.' I'll keep my word."

Delighted to hear the students' answers -- which ranged from becoming a doctor to working as an interpreter in diplomatic affairs -- Xi praised them for their clear life goals and lofty aspirations.

Great ideals should be established at an early age, Xi told the students.

A SPECIAL LECTURER

Gu Xinyu still vividly remembers an unexpected lecture in September 2020. She was then a junior student at Yuelu Academy of Hunan University in central China's Hunan Province.

The lecturer was Xi, who joined the students during an ideology and politics lesson.

"The general secretary was approachable, and his speech was so humorous that we could understand it at once," she said, recalling that Xi had used a metaphor containing Russian "vodka" and Chinese liquor "erguotou" to explain the necessity of adapting Marxism to the Chinese context.

"He was telling us to connect Marxism tenets with specific realities and social practices while studying the subject," said Gu.

Upon his departure, Xi encouraged the students to live up to the expectations of the times, study hard and develop sound values.