Special report: Strong
Earthquake Jolts SW China
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Senior Chinese leaders including Hu
Jintao, Wu Bangguo, Wen Jiabao, Jia Qinglin, Li Changchun, Xi Jinping, He
Guoqiang and Zhou Yongkang mourn during a silent tribute to the dead in
the earthquake hitting southwest China's Sichuan Province, in Beijing,
capital of China, May 19, 2008. Former President Jiang Zemin also stood in
silence, separately, while Li Keqiang, another senior Chinese leader,
observed the period of silence in Beichuan County of Sichuan on May
19.(Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
By Xinhua Writer Bai Xu
BEIJING, May 21 (Xinhua) -- A three-day period of
national mourning for the tens of thousands of quake victims, the first of its
kind in China for ordinary people, is officially ending, but people are still
caught up in feelings of grief.
On MSN, many netizens added a rainbow before their
signatures, to symbolize the end of a storm, just as a rainbow does.
Cars displayed yellow ribbons to signify sorrow and
prayers for the safe return of relatives.
National flags fluttered, for a final day, at half
staff. The relay of the Olympic torch remained suspended.
Website logos and newspaper mastheads were black, the
color of May 12, when a deadly quake in southwest China changed the fate of
millions.
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Children gather around a wreath of white
chrysanthemum to mourn for quake victims in Suzhou, east China's Jiangsu
Province, May 19, 2008. China began on May 19 a three-day mourning for the
victims of the 8.0-magnitude quake hitting southwest and northwest China
on May 12.(Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
TEARS OF CHINA
When, at 2:28 p.m. on Monday, the world's most
populous nation suddenly paused, I believed I saw the tears of China.
Tears flowed for mothers desperately shouting their
children's names, many never to be answered.
Tears fell for children waiting for their parents,
without knowing if their wait would ever end on Earth.
Tears were shed for those buried in an instant, for
the injured and the bereaved, for the ruins, and the once-vibrant land tainted
with blood.
But there has been more than tears.
As of Wednesday at noon, donations for the disaster
area had reached 16 billion yuan (2.29 billion U.S. dollars) and 1.764 billion
yuan had been forwarded to the earthquake-affected areas.
Blood stocks in Sichuan Province, the worst-hit
region, more than met demand within four days after the disaster.
Soldiers, armed police, medical staff and volunteers
from around the nation are still on the scene in the mountainous province. Some
are caring for survivors, others are digging -- sometimes with nothing more than
their hands -- driven by the slim hope of still finding someone alive.
Overseas Chinese who could not return lit candles in
London, Paris, Berlin and other cities, or wrote poems to mourn for their
compatriots.
LOVE WAS FELT
The Associated Press wrote: "The national pause ...
underscored the profound impact that the worst natural disaster in a generation
has had on the country's 1.3 billion people."
Top leaders from France, the United States, Japan,
Great Britain and other countries went to Chinese embassies to offer their
condolences during the three mourning days.
Now that the formal national mourning is about to
end, love shouldn't.
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Special policemen mourn during a silent
tribute in Shanghai, east China, May 19, 2008. China began on May 19 a
three-day mourning for the victims of the 8.0-magnitude quake hitting
southwest and northwest China on May 12.(Xinhua Photo)
Photo Gallery>>> |
NEVER FORGET
Let us remember the teacher at the Yingxiu township
primary school, who died in the posture of an eagle, arms encircling two
students.
Let us remember the mother in Beichuan, who covered
her baby with her body as the debris from the quake rained down, leaving a last,
silent message with her gesture: Dear baby, if you are alive, do remember that I
love you.
Let us remember the grandfather clutching his wife
tightly under the wreckage, only to find her dead when he was rescued.
Let us remember the soldier who knelt down after
receiving orders to leave, bursting into tears and begging, "Please, let me save
another child. I can save one more!"
Let us remember the gray-haired beggar in a patched
blue coat, who went to the donation box twice, first with 5 yuan, then 100.
With our memories, may we pass on our love, to those
in need in the future, be they farmers or officials, elderly or young.
Chinese president pays silent tribute
to earthquake victims
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese President
Hu Jintao on Monday afternoon paid a three-minute silent tribute to victims of
the May 12 earthquake in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in
Beijing. Full story
Chinese embassy to U.S. mourn
earthquake victims
WASHINGTON, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese embassy
to the United States on Monday held a solemn ceremony to mourn the victims of
the May 12 earthquake in southwest China, which claimed more than 32,000 lives.
Full story
Chinese diplomatic missions mourn
quake victims
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- Chinese diplomatic
missions across the world started mourning victims of the May 12 earthquake in
Sichuan province at 2:28 p.m. Monday Beijing time (0628 GMT) as national flags
flew at half-mast, exactly one week after the powerful tremor struck. Full story
China's FM opens condolence book for
foreign diplomats to mourn for quake victims
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China's Foreign
Ministry opened a condolence book on Monday morning for foreign diplomats to
mourn for those who died in the May-12 earthquake in Sichuan Province. Full story
China begins three-day mourning for
quake victims
BEIJING, May 19 (Xinhua) -- China on Monday
began a three-day national mourning for the tens of thousands of people killed
in a powerful earthquake which ch struck the country's southwest on May 12. Full story
