Ten children who suffered psychological trauma in Russia's Beslan hostage crisis arrived in Chengdu Tuesday for a week stay with ten local families.

The ten children, six girls and four boys aged between 14 and 16, will live with families with children their same ages. The stay is designed to help their recovery, said Ren Aiping, deputy secretary-general of the scientific, cultural and economic exchange promotion commission between the province and Eastern Europe.

The Chinese children will also teach their Russian guests to write Chinese characters and to make Chinese knots, a traditional Chinese decorative knot often used to express good wishes, Ren said.

The Russian children will sing and dance as part in the opening ceremonies of the economic and trade cooperation week between Sichuan and Russian counterparts.

In addition, they will also visit some tourist spots and the giant panda breeding base in Chengdu, according to Ren.

All ten Russian children were seriously psychologically traumatized in the siege on Sept. 1, 2004, when a group of armed terrorists took more than 1,000 people hostage in a school in Beslan in Russia's Republic of North Ossetia. The crisis left 331 people dead, including 186 children.

On May 2, another group of ten children traumatized in the hostage crisis arrived in China's southernmost coastal city of Sanya for a month of convalescent treatment.

Source: Xinhua