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The mission, however, was brought to a sad end by the Qing government.

In 1881, as many of the Chinese students were beginning their studies at Harvard, Yale, Columbia and other leading universities, they were suddenly called back.

The students had adjusted to Western education and culture. Many cut or hid their pigtails. Some even claimed to be Christians.

It was all too much for the conservatives in the imperial court of Qing, who feared the students would be permanently Westernized. The mission was declared over.

A group led by celebrated American author Mark Twain appealed to Ulysses S. Grant, then US president, to stop the departure of the Chinese students, but the effort was in vain.

Only two of the students finished their university courses. One of them was Zhan Tianyou, who designed and built China's first railway. Meanwhile, the students who returned to China after 10 years far from home were confined and interrogated.

Most of them, however, went on to make great contributions to modernize their country. Some joined the military and died in the wars against foreign invasions.

"We are full of thankfulness to come back in Kailuan coal mine today, the first stop where our grandfathers returned to China from the US," says Liang Zanxun, whose grandfather Liang Puzhao once studied at Yale University and became one of the earliest mining and metallurgy engineers in China. "We learned from our grandfathers their true patriotism, open minds and their down-to-earth working spirit."

Zhang Yu in Shijiazhuang contributed to this story.