Thongloun revisits his alma mater in Beijing

General Secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao President Thongloun Sisoulith (front, right) greets a teacher at the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee on Thursday in Beijing. FENG YONGBIN/CHINA DAILY

When Lao top leader Thongloun Sisoulith stepped into the dormitory where he had lived in 2000, he found everything almost exactly as he remembered — the same layout and the same atmosphere, unchanged even after so many years.

"Today, I am truly delighted to return to my alma mater," he said during a visit on Thursday to the Party School of the Communist Party of China Central Committee.

Thongloun, general secretary of the Lao People's Revolutionary Party Central Committee and Lao president, arrived in Beijing from Hangzhou in Zhejiang province earlier in the day to continue his five-day state visit to China.

"Though the campus has undergone some changes over the years, the places where I lived and studied remain just the same. It left a deep impression on me," he said.