SHIJIAZHUANG - Forty-eight students in north China's Hebei Province have received a special gift in advance of the upcoming International Children's Day: a letter from Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao.

Inspired by a story in which a young girl corresponds with the late physicist Albert Einstein, the students wrote a letter to Premier Wen in the hopes that he would write back, according to Xing Xinxin, a fourth-grade teacher at the Dongfengxilu Primary School in the provincial capital of Shijiazhuang.

Wen praised the children for their "independent thinking capacity," saying in his letter that "many of the questions you have raised are worth of in-depth deliberation by parents, teachers and educational officials."

The pupils told the premier about their favorite activities, which included picking up trash in parks and selling newspapers to raise money to donate to disadvantaged schools.

The students also complained about a lack of field trips and an overabundance of examinations, saying "if we are under such pressure in primary school, how will our pressure be relieved when we enter high school?"

Wen also visited a school in Beijing's suburbs on Tuesday, where he joined students in a basketball game and encouraged children to stay healthy by participating in sports and other physical activities.

Xinhua