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As 16-year-old Irena carefully cuddles Jingjing, an eight-month-old giant panda, she says, "She's so plumpy. Does she bite?" 

 

"It's so wonderful to hold a panda in your arms," she says with a broad smile spreading across her face as she poses for a photo.

 

Irena is one of 10 survivors of the 2004 school hostage crisis in Beslan, southern Russia, who are visiting China on a therapeutic trip.

 

They'll be in the country for a month and the eagerly anticipated meeting with the cuddly bear is believed to be an important part of their therapy.

 

Irena was nervous at first and her legs shook a little as she sat with her friends on a bench at the giant panda 'nursery' in Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, waiting for the zookeeper to introduce her to the bear. She hummed a Russian song to boost her confidence.

 

"Panda bears are so different from Russia's brown bears," said her friend Taimuraz, 16.

 

"I really like pandas," 14-year-old Zarina pitched in. "I've only ever seen pictures of them before. This is the first time I've ever touched and felt a lovely panda."

 

Taimuraz bought a toy bear at the souvenir shop as she left the panda breeding and research center.

 

"I'll take this panda home," she said with an obvious sense of real satisfaction. The group returns to Russia tomorrow.

 

On September 1, 2004, the girls were among more than 1,000 teenagers and adults taken hostage by a group of armed militants in Beslan. In a battle which followed the school was set on fire and more than 331 civilians -- more than half of them teenagers -- were killed.

 

Countries from around the globe, including China, had offered medical assistance to Russia following the hostage crisis.

 

(China Daily May 29, 2006)