China's State Council has declared Wednesday, April 21 to be a day of mourning for the victims of the Yushu Earthquake.

In the week since April 14, when the earthquake struck Qinghai Province in the early morning, the death toll has risen to more than 2,000, with more than 12,000 others injured.

In 2008, three days were set aside for mourning the victims of the Wenchuan Earthquake, whose death toll had reached more than 32,000 in the first week after the quake struck on May 12.

As was the case then, the State Council has instructed all flags to be lowered to half-staff and has ordered all public entertainment activities to be suspended. An urgent notice released today by the Ministry of Culture describes the details:

Notice is hereby made to all Provincial, Administrative Region, and Municipality-level Culture Departments, the Xinjiang Production and Construction Corps Culture Department, the Cultural Market Administrative Teams of Beijing, Tianjin, Shanghai, and Chongqing, and all subordinate work unites:

To express the profound grief that people of all ethnic groups across the country feel for their compatriots who fell victim to the Yushu earthquake, the State Council has decided to hold a National Day of Mourning on April 21, 2010. Flags across the country and at overseas institutions will be lowered and all public entertainment activities will be suspended. To carry out the spirit of the State Council decision, notice is hereby made of the following measures:

1. According to the instructions in the State Council notice, culture administration departments at all levels across the country, general culture market administrative agencies, and culture work units that fly national flags will lower them to half-staff in mourning.

2. Departments and work units in the national culture system will suspend any entertainment activities they organize.

3. Cultural and entertainment venues across the country will suspend their entertainment activities. All cinemas and theaters, dance halls, recreation venues, and game rooms, as well as all culture centers (or cultural palaces or stations) and community activity centers will suspend all entertainment, performances, screenings, and gaming activities. Internet service providers will suspend all entertainment activities including games, music, and video. Online cultural operators will suspend all online music, online games, online animation, and online video.

4. Culture administration departments and general culture market administration agencies at all levels should carry out strict observation of how the cultural and entertainment venues and their operators implement the State Council's decision, and shall deal with violators according to the law.

Office, Ministry of Culture