Altogether 20 Tibetan children with congenital heart disease get ready to receive free surgery in Beijing on July 25, 2013, 6 days after leaving home, reported by Xinhua.

The batch of Tibetan children received comprehensive inspection before surgery on July 24 in General Hospital of Armed Police Forces, a famous hospital in Beijing, so that medical experts could decide surgical plan for them.

It is the first time for the children from Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with a high altitude to reach flat-bottomed lands, and therefore they need some adaptation time. Meanwhile, the hospital also needs to identify the cardiac operations and interventional therapies for them.

The first surgery is planned on July 25, and it is scheduled that two surgeries will be conducted everyday in the forthcoming days. It will take about half a month to finish all the surgeries, according to the hospital.

Photo shows that a Tibetan child with congenital heart disease receives inspection in hospital in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

Since almost every child and parent has never visited Beijing and some even never left Tibet before, the 20 children and their parents firstly enjoyed a one-day trip in Beijing before receiving the medical procedures. They visited the Tiananmen Square and Beijing Zoo.

"I used to see Beijing in television, from which I know the national flag raising ceremony is held on the Tiananmen Square," said Pema Dondrup to nurses.

"Finally I can stand on the Tiananmen Square I have dreamed for long and I'm so excited. I would tell everything I see here to my friends," said Pubu Tashi from Nyingchi Prefecture.

They will go back to Tibet after the surgeries are confirmed successful, and then the next batch of diagnosed children will come to Beijing for treatments.

It is said that there will be another 80 children patients coming to Beijing for free treatments in future.

The 20 Tibetan children receiving free treatment are screened from over 6,000 local children of 20 townships in Lhasa, capital of southwest China's Tibet Autonomous Region，and Nyingchi Prefecture of southeastern Tibet during a medical aid project held earlier by the Chinese Red Cross Foundation and General Hospital of Armed Police Forces jointly.

Photo shows that two Tibetan children with congenital heart disease rest in the ward in hospital in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]

While they are receiving free treatments in Beijing, further screening project continues to be conducted in Tibet.

Medical experts are divided into two groups. One group has gone to Ratang Township through bumpy roads and Lhabupu Township at an altitude of 4,800 meters and they have screened 9 children patients from over 1,500, the other group has visited Taktse Township and screened 10 children patients out of 5,000 from four neighboring townships.

By July 22, the project had examined over 15,600 Tibetan children, of which 65 were diagnosed with congenital heart disease.

The high altitude and severe climate of Tibet make many local children much easier to suffer congenital heart disease than those in other areas of China. Local residents welcome inland medical groups greatly. Many parents flock into screening centers for the examination after hours of difficult journey from remote places across a long distance and harsh traffic.

That touches the charity medical project volunteers deeply. In order to help them, a variety of medical aids and charity projects have been conducted, such as free examination and surgeries from inland china.  

Photo shows that three Tibetan children with congenital heart disease play in the ward in hospital in Beijing. [Photo/Xinhua]