FrEe AiR
United States
- 1 2
May 21, 2008
China comes to standstill to mourn quake tragedy
-------------- Article from: Agence France-Presse
CHINA came to a standstill today, exactly one week after its earthquake tragedy, observing three minutes of silence to mourn the tens of thousands of people killed in the disaster.
Across the country, millions of people stopped where they were and fell silent, while air-raid sirens blared and motorists honked their horns.
The silent memorial began precisely at 2.28pm (1628 AEST), the exact moment a week earlier when the quake struck south-western China.
Several thousand people gathered in Tiananmen Square in central Beijing, standing silently around a flagpole from which the red Chinese flag waved at half-mast.
They burst into chants when the three minutes passed.
In unison, the huge crowd shouted "Jia you! Jia you!," an exhortation that can be loosely translated as "Go! Go!", while punching the air with their fists.
Others shouted out "Long live China!," "Long live Sichuan!," and "Long live Wenchuan!"
Wenchuan county was the epicentre of last Monday's earthquake, which measured 8.0 on the Richter scale and devastated a wide area of Sichuan province, killing an estimated 50,000 people.
China started a three-day national mourning period today, ordering all flags at half-mast throughout the country and at Chinese embassies and missions overseas.
It halted all cultural and entertainment activities.
The Beijing Olympic torch relay that had been making its way through China also has been halted for three days.
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05:50 AM Sep 19 2008 |
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iuhil
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11:16 AM Sep 12 2008 |
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piton
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10:39 PM Jul 26 2008 |
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eidy
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07:45 AM May 21 2008 |
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195854255
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02:19 AM May 21 2008 |
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Amarte
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May 20, 2008
THANKS FOR EVERY PEOPLE WHO HELP CHINA, HELP OUR PEOPLE......
THANK YOU VERY MUCH~
May 20, 2008
More than 40000 people have confirmed died and many are still buried or missing in the earthquake In Wenchuan, Sichuan Province in China......
Last night, hundreds of students gathered by the lake in my university. They lighted many many candles for lighting the way to the heaven for people who died in the earthquake. It was dark then and the light of the candles stand up against the dark sky. When I saw these, I was moved to tears. I felt the love and strength of our Chinese, My brothers and sisters. I felt a great nation,a great race .I was moved by the patriotism. there are patriotic songs or poems or something else .But sometimes they are so abstract that i don't feel them any more. But this time. Wow, I really feel the greatness of our people.
There are poverty, out-of-school, unfairness, despoilment, there is pain in this world and this is the true life. What we can do, in my opinion, is helping each other. We are humans, we all live in a same planet, we all have one mother nation. So we are brothers ans sisters. No matter white man, black man or the yellow race. We are all equal. We are in a same big family which called----earth.