Guan Xiao takes his new Math book on Monday, September 1, 2008, saying he wants to become a geographer in the future to understand the cause of quakes and how to minimize its impacts.

Most Chinese children start the new academic year on September 1 every year. But for some of the kids whose homes were devastated during the May 12 earthquake, this September may mean something different.

Guan Xiao, a 10-year-old Sichuan native, is popular among his new classmates and teachers. The boy transferred to Ping Le Yuan Elementary School in Beijing's Chaoyang District after the calamity and is adjusting well to his new surroundings.

"Like my new mates here, I study Math, Chinese, English and many other subjects every day. All students here treat me well and I have made some good friends in the class."

Guan is one of six students from Sichuan who study in the school. Five others went back after the summer vacation as their original schools reopened, but Guan's father decided to let his son stay.

"I have gotten acclimatized to life here. There is no difference between my life in Beijing and back in my hometown other than the fact I have to get up a little earlier in the morning here than in Chengdu."

Guan's father has a job in Beijing, which made the boy's transfer easy.

Beijing's education authorities issued a circular in June stipulating that students from quake-hit areas will be given a seat in the capital's schools if they have relatives in the city and can find accommodation by themselves.

But Ms Wang, head of Guan's current school, said they had started accepting students from disaster-affected zones even before receiving the notice and without a nod from officials.

"Some parents asked whether we would give their children admission after they were refused by other schools. I decided to accept them right away and help the children bail themselves out of the crisis."

All the students from Sichuan studying in Wang's school were exempt from tuition fees. But though they were made to feel welcome, there arose certain problems as time passed.

Differences in curriculum and teaching methods meant the new students weren't able to keep pace with the class at first. This worried the school and the parents.

"Guan Xiao is good at Math because the syllabus is similar in Beijing and Sichuan. But Chinese and English were a headache for him and me. He even didn't dare to communicate with classmates in the first few days due to his accent," Xu Jing, a teacher, revealed.

But it's no longer a problem now, the teacher said proudly.

"We worked out a special studying plan for the students from Sichuan based on combined lessons from the two places. That helped the students link the new lessons with their previous ones."

The teachers also had to provide psychological counseling to the students, headmaster Wang said.

"Some kids looked frightened when they came to school. With great patience, our teachers helped them get over their nightmarish experience."

All the kids changed for the better in the end. Guan is now an easy-going, happy-go-lucky boy, Wang added.

Guan said he is looking forward to a visit to the Bird's Nest stadium during the upcoming National Day holidays. He wants to become a geographer in the future to understand the cause of quakes and how to minimize its impacts.