Silence and tears as nation mourns
Source: Xinhua/Shanghai Daily |
April 22, 2010, Thursday
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Print Edition
Print Edition
BOWING their heads in silent tribute, thousands of government officials, soldiers and civilians gathered yesterday in ceremonies across China to mourn the 2,100-plus victims killed in an earthquake that hit a week ago in a Tibetan area of the northwest province of Qinghai.
This was followed by the traditional cacophony of vehicle horns and emergency sirens.
At the quake's epicenter in Yushu County, hundreds of rescue workers, residents and children in school uniforms stood quietly for a ceremony held on a hill with rubble from buildings behind them.
Red national flags flew at half mast and three minutes of silence were observed at 10am.
Dressed in black with a white flower pinned to his chest, Qiang Wei, Communist Party secretary for Qinghai, called on people to unite and rebuild in the wake of the quake, which also left 12,135 people injured. At least 84 remain missing.
In Beijing, President Hu Jintao and other top leaders led a silent tribute "to express our profound condolences" before a Politburo meeting, while soldiers in Tiananmen Square lowered the national flag to half mast.
In dark suits and ties, the nation's nine top leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao, stood together and bowed in silence for a minute before their meeting in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai.
Government officials from the Hong Kong and Macau special administration regions also dressed in black suits as a mark of grief.
China ordered a halt to all entertainment for the day of mourning.
Newspapers across the country were printed in black and white to reflect the grave mood.
The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body, announced yesterday it would release an additional 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) in funds for disaster relief.
A charity show on Tuesday night, broadcast nationwide by China Central Television, raised 2.175 billion yuan. The Wenhui Xinmin United Press Group, publisher of Shanghai Daily, donated 2 million yuan.
A silent multicultural crowd of at least 1,000 gathered in front of Gyegu's town hall in Yushu at 10am yesterday wearing white paper flowers, a Chinese symbol of mourning.
The Chinese flag in the square was lowered to half mast and the national anthem played.
Rescuers, working 24/7 in the search for people still missing, stopped to mourn.
The magnitude-7.1 quake devastated Yushu's largely Tibetan community when it struck at 7:49am on April 14.
About 80 children from a Yushu orphanage stood out among mourners at a racecourse in Yushu County where many quake survivors are living in makeshift tents.
Dressed in donated white jackets, the children were quiet throughout the ceremony, while more than 60 Tibetan monks who had come from Sichuan Province chanted sutra.
"We pray for the dead and bless the living," said 27-year-old monk Urgyen Tenzin.
About 800 kilometers from Yushu, thousands of residents in Qinghai's capital of Xining gathered in a city square to mourn the dead.
Feelings were especially strong in Tangshan, a northern city near Beijing as some people were still haunted by the quake in 1976 that killed about 240,000.
"We clearly feel grief for those who have lost family and friends in the Yushu quake," said Ge Changqiu, a survivor of the Tangshan quake.
Ge placed flowers at a monument erected for Tangshan quake victims. "For those who died in Yushu and in Tangshan," he said.
This was followed by the traditional cacophony of vehicle horns and emergency sirens.
At the quake's epicenter in Yushu County, hundreds of rescue workers, residents and children in school uniforms stood quietly for a ceremony held on a hill with rubble from buildings behind them.
Red national flags flew at half mast and three minutes of silence were observed at 10am.
Dressed in black with a white flower pinned to his chest, Qiang Wei, Communist Party secretary for Qinghai, called on people to unite and rebuild in the wake of the quake, which also left 12,135 people injured. At least 84 remain missing.
In Beijing, President Hu Jintao and other top leaders led a silent tribute "to express our profound condolences" before a Politburo meeting, while soldiers in Tiananmen Square lowered the national flag to half mast.
In dark suits and ties, the nation's nine top leaders, including Premier Wen Jiabao, stood together and bowed in silence for a minute before their meeting in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai.
Government officials from the Hong Kong and Macau special administration regions also dressed in black suits as a mark of grief.
China ordered a halt to all entertainment for the day of mourning.
Newspapers across the country were printed in black and white to reflect the grave mood.
The National Development and Reform Commission, China's top economic planning body, announced yesterday it would release an additional 50 million yuan (US$7.3 million) in funds for disaster relief.
A charity show on Tuesday night, broadcast nationwide by China Central Television, raised 2.175 billion yuan. The Wenhui Xinmin United Press Group, publisher of Shanghai Daily, donated 2 million yuan.
A silent multicultural crowd of at least 1,000 gathered in front of Gyegu's town hall in Yushu at 10am yesterday wearing white paper flowers, a Chinese symbol of mourning.
The Chinese flag in the square was lowered to half mast and the national anthem played.
Rescuers, working 24/7 in the search for people still missing, stopped to mourn.
The magnitude-7.1 quake devastated Yushu's largely Tibetan community when it struck at 7:49am on April 14.
About 80 children from a Yushu orphanage stood out among mourners at a racecourse in Yushu County where many quake survivors are living in makeshift tents.
Dressed in donated white jackets, the children were quiet throughout the ceremony, while more than 60 Tibetan monks who had come from Sichuan Province chanted sutra.
"We pray for the dead and bless the living," said 27-year-old monk Urgyen Tenzin.
About 800 kilometers from Yushu, thousands of residents in Qinghai's capital of Xining gathered in a city square to mourn the dead.
Feelings were especially strong in Tangshan, a northern city near Beijing as some people were still haunted by the quake in 1976 that killed about 240,000.
"We clearly feel grief for those who have lost family and friends in the Yushu quake," said Ge Changqiu, a survivor of the Tangshan quake.
Ge placed flowers at a monument erected for Tangshan quake victims. "For those who died in Yushu and in Tangshan," he said.
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