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CHINA> National
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Tears, prays for quake victims on Tomb Sweeping Day
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-04-05 10:31 "Mom still weeps sometimes, but there are so many people from Sichuan in heaven, you won't be lonely."
"I am doing well here," she read, smiling, with tears. People also chose to mourn the dead on the Internet.
After the earthquake, Chen, worried about his pregnant wife. He survived 73 hours under crushed concrete and twisted steel rods. He passed away after he was pulled out of the debris. Netizens on the portal website Sohu, list his story as among the ten most touching from the earthquake. "I miscarried," Tan Xiaofeng wrote. After the earthquake she moved away from her hometown and went to work in eastern Jiangsu Province. "I will be back to sweep tombs for him later this month," she said. The website claims to be the first online platform for visitors to mourn quake victims on Tomb Sweeping day. So far, more than 7,000 messages were left by netizens. Photos showing touching moments during the quake and its aftermath were also posted.
On Sina.com, the page for mourning showed candles forming "5.12" and a white chrysanthemum. More than 2,373,000 people had visited the site as of Saturday afternoon. Some posted their own messages for victims: "There is no disaster in heaven," and "Hope the survivors can be strong and live a better life." LOOKING INTO THE FUTURE Outside the barbed wire fence around the collapsed Beichuan middle school, 15-year-old Lu Chunqiao closed her eyes and held burning incense. Four other students nearby burned a letter. In Chinese, there is a superstition that if you burn a letter, you are sending it to the dead. The ninth grade students then knelt down, keeping their foreheads close to the ground. They survived the quake, but more than 1,000 of their classmates were dead or missing. "We want to tell them (the dead) the changes during this past year," Lu said. "Construction of the new school building is to start next month." About one kilometer away from the Beichuan county seat, work rebuilding Qushan township just began. Amid roaring machines, Liu Chunyi, an engineer from eastern Shandong province said, "it is the greatest comfort to the dead to have those alive live a better life." In Wenxian county of northwestern Gansu province where 114 people succumbed in the quake, Liu Wencheng placed fruit and tea for his dead wife in a graveyard. He told her that their two daughters were doing well at school. Liu had 0.2 hectares of land, where he planted wheat, corn and potatoes. "Life has to go on," he said. After the quake, the local government sent him a quilt, food and electric blankets. Each affected family was also given 20,000 yuan ($3,000) for reconstruction. It was not enough to build a house which is why Liu still lives in a tent. He is not sure how long he will be there. In Sichuan, however, there is a timetable. The province vowed to rebuild all damaged houses in rural areas by the end of this year and those in cities or townships before next May. More than 90 percent of roads and 98 percent of the power supply system would be restored by September 2010. But it will take longer than that for wounds in people's hearts to heal. Many people suggested Tan Xiaofeng, 26, should re-marry. The idea just makes Tan cry. "I can't accept another man," she said while shaking her head. "Not now."
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