Hostages finally come home

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With his weather-beaten face creasing into smiles, 30-year-old fisherman Zhang Leilei said he felt "reborn" the moment he arrived in Beijing on Tuesday afternoon after more than 570 days at the mercy of Somali pirates.

Zhang was among 26 rescued crew members of the Xu Fu 1 trawler, a Taiwan ship with 13 fishermen from the Chinese mainland, one from Taiwan and 12 from Vietnam.

The boat was hijacked by Somali pirates in late December, 2010, off the Madagascar coast and forced to Somalia.

The fishermen told reporters they felt helpless and survived on meager rations, often less than a meal a day, during their 19-month captivity.

They were released and picked up by the navy last week.

Zhang was in no doubt as to what he would do once he got home. "I will kneel in front of my father and pay my respects. We haven't seen each other for around five years."

Zhang signed a contract with a local company to work as a sailor for a Taiwan company in July 2007 to earn more money to support his rural family.

Zhang Qian, 56, Zhang's mother, told China Daily, from her home in Ruzhou in Henan province, that she felt "the sky had collapsed" when she heard that her son had been kidnapped by pirates two years ago.

Her relief was obvious but so too was the concern and worry of the past two years.

She only received two phone calls from her son during his captivity.

"I fainted with the telephone holding in my hand when I heard that his nails had been pulled," she said, adding that the ringing phone over the past two years made her nervous as it could be bringing bad news.

After their rescue, the fishermen boarded the naval frigate Chang Zhou, one of several Chinese naval ships on regular anti-pirate patrol off Somalia.

Once on board, they were escorted to the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania for transfer on Saturday.

The fishermen underwent daily physical examinations and a 24-hour emergency medical response team was on standby.

Considering their ordeal, they were in good shape but still weak, Wang said.

Looking to the future, fisherman Liu Renxiong, 33, said he could not rule out the possibility of another sea trip due to his financial circumstances.

"Our families have spent a lot of money over the last two years, and financial conditions are not good."

Liu also expressed his gratitude for the efforts made by the government and the ship owner for "not giving up on them".

Questions:

1. For how many days were the fishermen held by the pirates?

2. How many crew members were rescued?

3. Where were the pirates from?

Answers:

1. More than 570 days.

2. 26.

3. Somalia.

About the broadcaster:

Rosie Tuck is a copy editor at the China Daily website. She was born in New Zealand and graduated from Auckland University of Technology with a Bachelor of Communications studies majoring in journalism and television. In New Zealand she was working as a junior reporter for the New Zealand state broadcaster TVNZ. She is in Beijing on an Asia New Zealand Foundation grant, working as a journalist in the English news department at the China Daily website.