Chinese school to be re-opened in eastern India city

Chinese Indian Wu checks the books at Pei May Chinese High School in Tangra of Kolkata, West Bengal of India, March 8, 2015. Located in the China town of Kolkata, Pei May Chinese High School, said to be one of its kind in India for Chinese overseas in the city, is being painted and to be re-opened. (Xinhua/Zheng Huansong)

At a time when bilateral trade, cultural and tourism exchanges between India and China are going up, a Chinese school in India's eastern state of West Bengal is likely to see revival.

Pei May Chinese High School in the state capital Kolkata is all set to see light of the day again after the school was shut few years ago due to declining Chinese population in the city.

The vast school building said to be one of its kind in India for a Chinese overseas community is being painted. Football ground, badminton court, table tennis and all 30-odd classrooms are getting the required facelift.

The work is supported by the Consulate General of the People's Republic of China in Kolkata while the local Chinese community is in charge of the project.

"Pei Mei middle school for long has been a cultural heart in the Chinese overseas community in Kolkata. We wish to revive it as a new bridge to connect the Indian and Chinese culture. We are planning to prepare syllabus soon and are going to recruit teachers as well," Wang Xuefeng, the Consul General in Kolkata, has said.

The school started its operation six decades back by the Chinese community residing in Kolkata in order to give education to their kids in their own language.

Liu Guozhao, Chairman of Kolkata Chinese Association and also an octogenarian living in Kolkata's Tangra region which is popularly called China Town, recalled the good old days of the school.

"It was founded with the money earned and saved by nearly all Chinese overseas, who devoted much efforts to make the school a reality. Our children benefited a lot from it for generations," he said.

Now when the school is going to start conducting classes again, he says that he would be extremely happy to extend all his support to the school, as he along with his wife has invested to re-paint the campus.

The couple is now eagerly waiting to revisit the history as new students and teachers would start coming in.

Being one of the oldest persons among their peer-group, Liu, on behalf of the Chinese community, also thanked the Chinese Consul General in Kolkata for putting a great effort as well as showing his personal interest in revival of the school for the good of people.

"This time after the re-opening, school would be rather different as it is not just going to benefit Chinese students but also Indian students who want to learn Chinese language in a Chinese environment. Since the trade and economic relations between India and China are growing at a rapid pace, more and more Indians now want to learn Chinese language. So we want to make this school the best to do Chinese studies in India," said Liu.

Kolkata is the only Indian city which has a distinguishable Chinese community which has lived here for at least two centuries.