Fei Changbao (right) and Qian Alin pose with a picture of their son, Fei Junlong, at their home in Bacheng Township of Kunshan City in Jiangsu Province yesterday. — Xinhua

Fireworks, dragon and lion dances, gongs and drums, weeping relatives and cheering neighbors greeted the return of the two Shenzhou VI taikonauts at their hometowns.
It was a poignant - and noisy - moment of national and local pride as China's two taikonauts returned from the nation's second manned space flight.
Relatives and townsfolk of astronauts Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, who landed safely yesterday, celebrated their triumphant return with local and national pride - and firecrackers.
The entrance of astronaut Nie's home in Zaoyang, Hubei Province, was decorated with colorful banners. A crowd of townsfolk waving little national flags gathered inside the main hall of the house, tuning in to a live broadcast of the return journey of the Shenzhou VI spaceship.
Everyone cheered when the TV anchorman proclaimed the re-entry capsule of the Shenzhou VI with the two astronauts had safely landed inside the Gobi desert in north China's Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region at 4:33am.
Nie Xiansheng, astronaut Nie's younger brother, said, "I feel proud of my elder brother and I will take good care of the family so that my elder brother can feel relieved and work wholeheartedly."
Nie Daoqin, Nie Haisheng's elder sister, said, "When Haisheng was orbiting earth in the spaceship, the whole family watched TV all day long, our hearts turning to him at every moment. Whenever mom saw snapshots featuring my younger brother Nie, she was moved to tears."
Zhang Qunshan, Nie's elder brother in-law, boasted they anticipated the astronauts' safe return because of the country's scientific and technological progress and the great attention of the Party and the government to the mission.
Astronaut Fei is from Feijiabang of Bacheng Township of Kunshan, Jiangsu Province. Both of his parents, Fei Changbao, 69, the father, and Qian Alin, 71, the mother, tuned in to the TV as early as 2am to get an early glimpse of their beloved son.
The couple were accompanied by townsfolk seated inside the courtyard of the Fei family home, where a big rear projection TV was erected for the live broadcast of the space mission.
When the two astronauts emerged from the re-entry capsule, astronaut Fei's parents, and astronaut Nie's relatives, burst into tears.
(Xinhua)