A poster at a newspaper booth in Wudaokou

I was going to the canteen to eat and the students were distributing these flyers and calling 饭后 捐血!

不能靠近你, 但要温暖你

清华师生热血献灾区

These are the blood donation buses going around the city

I've been watching the news these few days and it was very encouraging to see the Chinese people so enthusiastic in helping the vicitms of the earthquake; donating blood, donating money, writing songs and poems to express their sorrow and condolences, some even went as far as volunteering in the rescue team, in the hospitals and adopting the kids who lost their parents in the disaster.

我要捐血! 我要捐血! 我要捐血!
One of the many enthusiasts filling up the form

I brought back memories of the beautiful sceneries in Sichuan but just 1 week after I left, the place is totally destroyed. Families torn apart, buildings razed to the ground and the lives of the friendly Sichuan people with their funny Sichuan accent which I enjoy imitating are disrupted. I was at Mt Qing Cheng and Dujiangyan 2 weeks before the earthquake struck. I passed by the worst hit areas of Wenchuan and Maoxian on my way to Jiuzhaigou 2 weeks before the earthquake struck. I passed by Wolong too and I wonder if the silly pandas managed to escape. If I had come back slightly later, I might not be here anymore.. I couldn't find the donation boxes so I did thought of donating blood. However, by the time I got back to the bus again the person said the blood bank was already full. What a huge contrast to the situation in Spore. Here, people rush to donate their blood. Back at home, people had to go onto the streets to beg other people to donate.

Half-mast in Tsinghua

Half-mast everywhere

I decided to go Tiananmen today as it was the first day of the national mourning for the earthquake victims. I didn't expect it to be such a grand affair!

CCTV van and crew on standby reporting live from Tiananmen Square

I managed to squeeze my way in just behind the 2 guys holding the China flags

They held up their hands like this for quite long as the photographers behind snapped away furiously. Looks like I got a pretty good spot.

Oh jeez I might appear on China tv or some parts of my head might appear in the China press tmr

天府广场默哀仪式

I was here 18 days ago before the earthquake struck on 0512.

Chengdu residents hand in hand shouting "中国加油 四川雄起!"

On 19 May 2008 14:28pm, (1 week exactly after the earthquake) the whole of China comes to a standstill, observing 3 mins of silence while air-raid sirens blared and motorists stopped their cars and honked their horns. All flags were lowered at half-mast throughout the country and at Chinese embassies and missions overseas. All public cultural and entertainment activities are halted during the 3-day national mourning period. Major Chinese websites such as CCTV and the logo of baidu are in black and white. The video I took is too large to be uploaded here. Go here for a complete coverage of the mourning across China.

As soon as the 3 minutes of silence was over, the crowd burst into chants of 中国万岁! 四川加油! while punching their fists into the air.

I was standing on tip-toe all the time. Amidst all the chaos, I have no idea wad I was shooting.

汗水、泪水、鼻涕全都有

I am truly in awe with their level of patriotism for their country. Look at the lady leading the crowd in 中国万岁! She looked really emotional.

Climbing up to get a good shot

散场了

("让我们化悲痛为力量 一起重建家园...")

A tragedy which took away more than 35,000 lives but united the hearts of 1.3 billion people. This is truly an unforgettable experience.