Special report: Strong Earthquake Jolts SW China

    MIANYANG, May 15 (Xinhua) -- Ren Hongbin, member of a car club in Mianyang city, southwest China's Sichuan Province, has driven between Beichuan, a county heavily ravaged by a 7.8 magnitude earthquake, to Mianyang at least 10 times a day since Tuesday.

    He and the other 24 members helped to transport the injured from Beichuan to hospitals in Mianyang, which is 60 kilometers away.

    "Although we are not powerful, the rolling wheels can help speed the relief work," said Ren.

    Ren is not alone.

    Cars loaded with milk, bottled water, instant noodles and overcoats, lined up on the road from Mianyang to Beichuan.

    "I just want to hand these materials to their hands, and tell people in the disaster-stricken area not to be discouraged," said Zeng Damao, a driver. "We will help them rebuild their houses."

    Civilians acted quickly after the tremor, which has claimed more than 15,000 lives, and united for disaster relief work.

    The Internet and mobile phones have also given full play to the humanitarian emotion of the Chinese people.

    More than 750,000 messages have been posted on Sina.com, China's largest website giving support to the people in the disaster hit region.

    "The disaster is the top political item at present, and disaster relief is the best way to express our emotion," the "Beijing Times" said in a commentary.

    At1 p.m. Thursday, two queues, each at least 50 meters long, formed outside the blood donation bus at Xidan, the central business district of Beijing.

    Young and old stood together waiting to give blood.

    Huang Lei, a 22-year-old girl in the Sanyuanda Telecom Co.Ltd, just finished her turn.

    "I once fell in a faint because of blood donation, and this time my wish to help the disaster stricken people has helped me complete the process," said Huang.

    Together with Huang were her seven colleagues, who said that they knew people in the quake stricken region were in great need of blood.

    "It was the best way to express our concern," said Huang.

    Yang Zhensheng, who was born 32 years ago in a relief tent during the Tangshan earthquake, gave out 10,000 yuan -- his annual salary to the people in Sichuan.

    "As a survivor of an earthquake, I must do something," said Yang.

    Zhao Jianping, who came back to Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan from a business trip in Germany, said: "Chinese people on the mainland, as well as those overseas, have united together before this huge disaster."

    Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs showed that only 24 hours after the earth quake, it had received money and goods worth 221 million yuan.

    "The moment the disaster happened, we all became the people of Wenchang." The sentence was repeated on Chinese Websites and newspapers.