A World's Youth Forum is held in Songxi village in Zhejiang province's Jinhua city on Aug 26. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com]

Foreign students talked about their opinions on the importance of hard work in obtaining happiness at a World's Youth Forum held in Songxi village in Zhejiang province's Jinhua city on Aug 26, as part of a homestay activity.

Ashish Kothekar from India believes that happiness does not lie in the end result but it actually lies in the process of hard work.

"The result is never in your hands because it is based on so many other factors, some known, and some unknown to you," Ashish said. "So, the only thing that you have control on is your work and you must enjoy it."

Yanga Mangisa, a student of Walter Sisulu University in South Africa, demonstrated the forum's theme "happiness is achieved through hard work" by her experience in applying for the homestay activity along with other two girls.

She said that when they heard about the activity and the opportunity to visit China, they spared no effort with work in school and preparing for the interview because only the most outstanding three students could go on the all-expense paid trip.

"Here we are now," Yanga said with pride. "This is the result of our hard work and we are really having a good time in Songxi and in Jinhua."

Maximilian Teubert from Germany talked more about the concept of hard work and happiness itself.

He said that hard work can lead to happiness, but there are other things that make people happy, such as a smiling, a hug, exercise and even going for a walk.

The 21-day homestay activity attracted 52 students from 15 countries, during which they experienced traditional Chinese culture, checked out local historical architecture and tasted local cuisine.