Hong Kong's young people on Tuesday questioned two taikonauts of China's second manned space mission, trying to find a personal image of the two, who have been hailed as "heroes" by local press.

"Most Hong Kong youth are very practical when choosing profession, how can you make up minds to be a taikonaut when China 's aerospace industry still at the beginning?" asked a young female accountant at a forum.

The one-hour session was attended by the two taikonauts, Fei Junlong and Nie Haijun, and more than 100 Hong Kong young professionals from all walks of life.

Both Fei and Nie encouraged the young people to devote to their careers even the results not clear. "The commitment is achievement itself," said Fei.

Compared to the glorious titles such as "Space Hero Duet" given by Hong Kong press, the young people preferred to know the two taikonauts from a more personal prospect.

Many questions focused on how the two designed their career development and how they dealt with stress coming from life and work.

"I've never felt more stress than now. I'm so nervous to know what is the next question," said Fei, whose answer triggered out laughter and applause from the audience.

Among 15 people asking questions, most were curious about how the two taikonauts maintain good relations with their families while pursuing their career of being a taikonaut, one of the 14 in whole China.

"I couldn't have made today's achievement without the support of my families. I thank them for their unselfish support," Nie answered.

Nie, who orbited the Earth in mid-October with Fei, spent his 41st birthday while exploring the space. A live TV broadcast then showed an overwhelmed Nie with tears when his daughter sang him a Happy Birthday Song by satellite telephone.

Nie and Fei are on a three-day visit to Hong Kong with engineers of the Shenzhou-6 manned space mission, named after the capsule.

During their stay in Hong Kong, the two taikonauts attended variety show, gave science presentations and communicated with the public at various forums. They will leave for Macao on Wednesday morning.

Source: Xinhua