The First Chinese taikonaut-- Yang Liwei 楊利偉

Chinese taikonaut Yang Liwei said he could never forget the moment when he blasted off from the earth and became the country's first spaceman. "When I waved goodbye to the crowds, I felt the whole country was there to support me. That moment stays with me forever," Yang said.

On October 15, 2003, Yang boarded on the Shenzhou-5 spacecraft and pioneered the world's most populous country's journey into space. His space tour was broadcast live across the nation. "Every moment of the flight was memorable. It was the first big step China took in its space exploration," he said.

Yang was privileged to be the first Chinese spaceman, and his tour was accompanied by many surprises. About 100 seconds from the lift-off, he was hit by a bout of terrifying vibrations of the rocket. "I felt my internal organs were upside down, and there were waves of nausea in the ascent," he recalled.

Before he could recover from the vibrations, he was seized by the inevitable gravity loss. "I suddenly lost any sense of direction. It was a feeling I never had in my training," he said. "Staying in the space was a whole different thing. I only slept about half an hour in the journey and spent all the other time trying to fully take in the experience," Yang said.

"I didn't feel alone. I felt like the whole mankind and the earth was with me and supporting me." Yang returned to the earth as a space and national hero. He received a promotion and witnessed an upsurge of public interest in space exploration.

"The mission is prelude of a more advanced chapter of China's space industry development, and everyone is looking forward to its success," said Yang Liwei.