Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao spent a compact day on the eve of Chinese Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, by visiting farmers, doctors, and college students in northeast China's Liaoning Province.

On early Saturday, Wen went to Liujiazi Village, a remote village of Qingyuan Manchu Autonomous County in Liaoning.

Braving snow flakes, Wen called on farmers door-to-door and extended festive greetings to all the villagers.

At villager Guo Jinhua's home, the premier took off his shoes and sat on the kang, a heatable brick bed common in rural China to help people keep off coldness. Wen chatted with villagers and inquire about their food, housing, transportation and medicare.

"To be quite frank with you, I feel better when sitting on the kang than in the office", Wen said.

Wen said the central government plans to do three things to benefit the large rural population in the coming year: provide free nine-year compulsory education for rural children; extend new medicare system coverage to more than 80 percent of the counties; implement guaranteed subsistence allowances for needy suburban residents.

In the afternoon, Wen went to Shengjing hospital affiliated with China Medical University, sending gifts to children patients and expressed his concern over individual cases.

Wen then had a conversation with doctors and hospital staff. "Doctors are usually the busiest during festivals as nothing weighs more important than people's life," said Wen.

Wen's sincere words were constantly disrupted by applause and some doctors were even moved into tears.

In Legou Supermarket, Wen inquired about the supply of goods during the Festival.

Four p.m in the afternoon, Wen took another tour to pay new year call to the migrant workers on a construction site in Route 1subway of Shenyang, capital city of Liaoning.

"The government has always cared about migrant workers," said the premier, citing he helped migrant workers get back their salary in 2003 and invited migrant children spend Children's Day in Zhongnanhai, the compound of Communist Party of China (CPC) in downtown Beijing.

"These actions showed that the government call for proper care and respect should be shown to migrant workers," said the premier.

Wen then visited workers in Shenyang Machine Tool Co. Ltd., where Wen once visited in 2003.

Wen urged the leaders in the company to raise its competitiveness by setting up its own brand and obtaining new intellectual property rights (IPRs).

During dinner time, Wen sat with more than 500 workers on duty in the company. Making sure his toast not to miss a single worker, Wen wished everyone a happy new year.

After dinner, Wen went to the student recreation center of Northeast University to spend the eve of Spring Festival with college students.

"I have spent the Spring Festival with farmers, coal miners, porters, but it's my first time to spend the festival with college students," Wen said.

Wen urged the college students to love the motherland and the people. "Only with a strong sense of responsibility can the college students devote to the construction of the country and welfare of the people," the premier said.

(Xinhua News Agency February 19, 2007)