China-rebuilt Nepali school witnesses friendship between the two countries

Students of Durbar High School study in a temporary classroom built by Chinese company Shanghai Construction Group. Photo by Zhao Yipu, People’s Daily

Teachers of a Nepali school expressed their gratitude toward a Chinese construction company for helping rebuild their school in Kathmandu, Nepal’s capital.

“We are very happy that Chinese President Xi Jinping will soon visit Nepal. Thanks to China’s great help, our school can be rebuilt quickly and well. Thank you very much China!” Principal of Durbar High School Mahato told People’s Daily.

Currently, the reconstruction of the school’s main teaching building is nearing completion as the school is expected to open in January next year.

Durbar High School was founded in 1853 and has a long history. Students who once studied here are active in various fields in Nepal.

The school was devastated by the 2015 Nepal earthquake. According to Mahato, Durbar High School is the cradle of Nepali talents and the hope of the Nepali people. After school was damaged by the earthquake, a lot of people who passed by the teaching building could not help but stop and feel grieved in the face of the debris.

China and Nepal are friendly neighbors sharing weal and woe. In 2017, Durbar High School was identified as one of the 25 quake-damaged projects in Nepal that China had agreed to help reconstruct. The project was contracted by Shanghai Construction Group.

Cheng Congyin, project manager of the company’s overseas department, said that when he visited Durbar High School, he was very sad to see teachers and students attending classes in the half-collapsed building. “It took us less than a week to build a temporary building near the school to meet the daily teaching needs of the school.”

At present, the construction for the main structure of the teaching building in Durbar High School has been completed, and the interior decoration is in progress. After reconstruction, the school will have more than 20 ordinary classrooms and can accommodate nearly 800 students.

“We are glad that the reconstruction of new teaching building is progressing smoothly. New changes are taking place every day,” Mahato said.

The reconstruction of Durbar High School embodies the efforts of the Chinese construction workers. At the construction site, workers were seen grinding and cleaning the ground.

“The school used to adopt terrazzo floors, which are rarely used in Chinese buildings nowadays. However, in order to restore the original appearance of the school to the greatest extent, we specially selected the same kind of terrazzo stones as that were used before. After laying them, we have to polish them, which takes a lot of time and manpower.”Cheng told the reporter.

The school’s original building has a facade with distinctive historic characteristics; each window hole has a decorative pattern on the outside. The moulds of relevant modeling were customized in China and then transported to the project site for use to ensure the pattern and modeling are consistent with those of the original building.

Mahato was impressed with the attitude and efficiency of the Chinese construction staff. “The new building keeps the original style. The Chinese builders are so diligent!”

In addition, China is helping rebuild another six schools in the mountains of northern Nepal. “All sectors of Nepali society have seen the speed and quality of China’s assistance projects and felt the sincerity of China’s assistance to Nepal. We need to speed up construction to make the school a witness of China-Nepal friendship,” Cheng said.

“Thanks to our Chinese friends, the school has been rebuilt. How grateful we are to China! We are looking forward to returning to the clean classroom as soon as possible,” said an English teacher from Durbar High School.