3 minutes of silence

When you are a kid you are told that if everyone in China jumped at the same time the force from that many people would knock the earth of it's axis. Well I don't know how true that is, but today we got to witness first hand the awesome-ness of everyone in China being silent for 3minutes - and it was a lot more emotive and significant. A moment we will never forget.

Exactly one week ago today, on the 12th May 2008 at precisely 2:28pm, China experienced their worst earthquake in 30 years. In the south of China, in a province called Sichuan, entire suburbs were destroyed and so far the death toll is at over 30 000people. It has been an event that has impacted the nation greatly, as I'm sure it has the whole world.
To mourn and remember those who died in this tragedy, the country took 3 minutes of silence today at 2:28pm. The entire nation stopped, and from the window of our bedroom (and Kyle's classroom window at uni) we held silence with the nation; standing as every person behind the wheel of a car hooted their horn, every flag in the country flew at half mast, and a nation of 1.2 billion stood quietly. It was the first time this has ever been done.

This tragedy has also brought out the best in the Chinese people; not known for their generosity the people have donated a massive 9.1 billion RMB to those in Sichuan and surrounding areas. They are also lining up to give blood for those in dire need, not something typically Chinese as according to Chinese medicine theory, every part of your body is uniquely yours and essential to who you are. They are therefore very reluctant to give this away and up until now have relied on profession blood donors who they pay to keep their blood banks full. This event has changed that, and despite Chinese tradition many are doing whatever they can for their fellow countrymen.

Similarly the government - and specifically the country's 2 leading men; Hu Jin Tao (Prime minister) and Wen Jia Bao (China's president) have been exemplary examples of leaders leading from the front in order to carry their country through this crisis. Hu Jin Tao arrived in Sichuan only an hour and a half after the destruction and has not left the side of those rescue workers digging for survivors amidst the rubble. We've seen footage of him on 2 cell phones directing and organising the rescue troops and when it seemed too dangerous for him to stick around, he told everyone that despite the risk to his own life there was no way he was leaving his people.

The heroism and miracles that have taken place here in China over the last week is not unlike those that came out of the 9/11 tragedy. I sincerely hope that through this the people of the world will come to see the people and government of China as those with real heart.