Front Page of the Day

Earthquake diaries in the Dongguan Times

wenchuan.jpg
Dongguan Times
May 21, 2008

Dongguan Times ran a special edition today with its front page designed to resemble a manila envelop.

The headline reads "the memory of a middle school". Inside is a selection of diary entries by students from the Beichuan Middle School who survived the May 12 eartquake. Over 1,200 students and teachers were buried alive when the earthquake hit Beichuan. Previously home to about 13,000 people, around 4,000 of Beichuan's residents survived.

One of the details revealed by the diaries is that there had been smaller earthquakes shortly before the big fatal one. However, largely because Beichuan County is on an earthquake belt and small quakes are not unusual, some people were so jaded that didn't pay much attention to the tremors. "I thought it was just another joke the earth played with us" a student wrote. A joke it was not.

According to the diaries, when the earthquake happened, some teachers asked their students not to run away, but to take cover by hiding under the desks, which seems to have saved the lives of some students, although it didn't help many others. The desks, understandably, were not designed to withhold the weight of a collapsing building.

Most of the student survivors expressed their faith in the government and the Party in their dairies, though in one of them, a student showed his anger that it took five hours for the rescue team to arrive. But when he knew Mianyang (a big city nearby) was also affected, he began to understand the seriousness. "I have no complaint. Who should I complain about?" he wrote.

There are currently 7 Comments for Earthquake diaries in the Dongguan Times.

Comments on Earthquake diaries in the Dongguan Times

Does 1,200 refer to the number of students and teachers buried alive and then rescued? If they were killed by the falling structures, I wouldn't call that being "buried alive." Is that a normal interpretation?

Most of the student survivors expressed their faith in the government and the Party in their dairies

That's when you know something's dying down. There's no more news to report so you get long lists of names and people thanking the government.

One of the light moments was on SCTV. Premier Wen visited with some survivors of a disaster area, and an old woman had absolutely no idea who he was. She asked him, "Who're you?" and someone said "He's Wen Jiabao", then she said "wWho is Wen Jiabao?" Once she relized she was shaking hands with the premier she was quite surprised and thankful that he was there. Quite moving, actually.

an interesting message going around the internet in China.


在中国发大财而又不捐款的"国际铁公鸡" "国际铁公鸡"排行榜
NO1:三星
NO2:诺基亚
NO3:大金
NO4:LV
NO5:可口可乐
NO6:麦当劳
NO7:肯德基
通报这些公司让大家记住,不是让大家去消费,而是要铭记心中:这是没有良心的企业!在中国发大财而又不捐款的"国际铁公鸡

发给更多的人群,给他们压力,用他们的力量去感化他帮个忙吗?把这个发给其他人。“四川发生大地震,大家有钱出钱,有力出力!为同胞们出点力”把这完整地发给30个以上的网友。不在线的也算。完成后,系统自动加你为阳光 。请你把它发给30个以上的网友,电脑会把你的QQ记录下 ,你将会被腾讯公司列为 ,你的名字将变为红色, 相信你会帮,头象将变为蓝色的

It's sad some people are so naive. Donation should not be forced, and 攀比 is stupid and cold-hearted.

I'm not sure whether the propaganda message of "Love" is compatible with nationalistic, hot-headed, male-oriented Chinese youth (the "Fire Sticks"). Love and Compassion are not in the nature of the Fire Sticks.

鄙视那些逼捐的和捐款排名了!
搞搞清楚,用脑子想想

肯德鸡和麦当劳都是以百盛的名义捐的.

脑袋是装浆糊的吗??

@rainbow

肯德基(不是鸡)和必胜客属于百胜(不是盛)餐饮集团。麦当劳属于麦当劳集团。也许未来百胜餐饮集团和麦当劳集团之间可能发生购并、合并、吞并,但目前还没有发生。

我也非常反对逼捐和捐款排名。不过,用错误的事实做为基础来驳斥另外一个错误,不会让人信服;如果加上夸张的语调,只会适得其反。

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