China Earthquake Relief Efforts and Donations

China earthquake relief efforts are underway as a 7.9 earthquake shook Sichuan province on Monday, May 12th , killing over 50,000 people, trapping about 900 students under the rubble of their school and causing a toxic chemical leak, state media has reported.

It devastated a hilly region of small cities and towns in Sichuan and nearby provinces. It hit about 60 miles northwest of Chengdu in the middle of the afternoon when classrooms and office towers were full.

Its force was felt across much of China, including Beijing and Shanghai and as far away as Bangkok and Vietnam. The magnitude of the quake is still unknown as many areas are still cutoff by the disaster but the number of casualties is expected to rise.

As reported by Xinhua news, about 900 teenagers were buried under a three-story school building in the Sichuan city of Dujiangyan. At another Dujiangyan school, 420 students were trapped and workers had so far been able to rescue fewer than 100.

Donations and how you can help

Here are a couple of links to organizations that are helping with the earthquake relief efforts. Donations can be made through them:

• Mercycorps.org
  
  
• Jet Li One Foundation Project
  
  
• Americares.org
  
  
• Worldvision.org
  
  
• International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies

Our prayers are with the victims and their families.

Tourism in Sichuan - January 12, 2009 Update

Update from Maki from Sim's Cozy Garden in Chengdu:

"The Wolong Panda Reserve remains closed. This area was seriously damaged by the earthquake and all the Pandas have been moved to different locations. We heard that most Pandas have been moved to the Bifengxia Panda Base and some were sent to the Chengdu Panda Base. The Chengdu Panda Base is going to extend their facilities.

If you are traveling to southern Sichuan, to the Leshan Grand Buddha, Emei Mountain and the Shunan Bamboo Sea for example, there are no problems getting there as these areas suffered little damaged and all roads have reopened.

If you are traveling to the north or north west part of Sichuan, the situation is different. Most roads are under repair, and althouh it is possible to get to most places, the roads have been re-routed. For example, to get to Songpan, you have to go there via Pingwu, and for Mt. Four Girls you have to go via Ya'an.  And places like Mt.Qingcheng and Dujiangyan where the roads are not damaged, the sights themselves have been damaged by the earthquake and are being repaired."

Tourism in Sichuan reopens - July 14, 2008 Update

According to local media, Sichuan tourism restoration will be divided in three phases:

Phase One: markets that were not disturbed by the earthquake will start attracting local tourism to restart business in the areas. Phase one has started and will be ongoing through 2008.

Phase Two: will focus on rural tourism around the major centers with the aim of restoring the entire tourism market by the end of 2009.

Phase Three: will focus on establishing tourism as the leading industry in the disaster areas by 2010.

The following areas reopened on June 15: Zigong, Panzhihua, Luzhou, Suining, Neijiang, Leshan, Nanchong, Yibin, Guangan, Dazhou, Meishan, Ziyang, and Liangshan.

The second batch reopened today: Bazhong, parts of Mianyang, including Zitong County and Santai County. Deyang except for Shifang and Mianzhu, Guanyuan except for Qingchuan County, the Jianmenguan Scenic Area in Jiange County, the Zhaohua Ancient City in Yuanba District, the Mingyuexia Plank Road in Chaotian District, and the Sichuan Tiantai National Forest Park.

A Month After the Earthquake - June 12, 2008 Update

The Wenchuan Earthquake, named after the county at the root of the epicenter, has left nearly 70,000 dead and several thousands homeless. Now, a month after the disaster, many situations have unfolded:

The Government's response was swift. They knew they had to show the country and the world that the Central Government could cope with such an emergency. We saw Premier Wen Jiabao, almost immediately after the first jolts, at the heart of the crisis, in the middle of the rain, shouting and directing rescue efforts. An Army of more than 100,000 relief workers were immediately deployed, as well as thousands of vehicles and choppers. Foreign aid was gracefully accepted. Reconstruction work has begun.

Media coverage was unprecedented. Full non-stop TV coverage started within the hour. At least 500 journalists, including foreign journalists from 114 news outlets, swarmed the area. In the past, crises and catastrophes were always covered up, the media was totally suppressed. Not this time. Beijing allowed widespread coverage of the earthquake, relief and rescue operations. Still to be seen is whether the government covers up the school scandals where thousands of children were killed when their shoddily built schools collapsed around them.

Outpouring of Support and China's Civic Spirit. Kinship and family ties are so ingrained in Chinese culture and the teachings of Confucianism, that for a lot of Chinese, the concept of "helping your fellow man" specially in terms of donations and volunteering was not a familiar one, until now. Millions of Chinese lined up for hours, to donate money, food and clothes. And thousands of volunteers flooded the area, most doing so for the first time. This was also the first time that the National Flag has been flown at half-mast for ordinary citizens. Tracy Cheng's summarizes the sentiment on her May 28 post (see above):

"We feel that all the Chinese are working together to help the stricken people. I was deeply moved for this, and I am very proud I am a Chinese..."

An End to the One-Child Policy? In the aftermath of the Earthquake, and the school incident outrage, the government has stated that the parents who lost their only child will be permitted to have another one. But will this policy extend far beyond the disaster and could that be a catalyst to end the One-Child Policy?

For now, there are no answers. But one thing is for sure, the political and cultural reverberations of the Wenchuan Earthquake will be felt for years to come. We can only hope that these effects will be a step in the right direction towards shaping China's civil society.

Update from Chengdu City - May 28, 2008

Update on the situation in Sichuan from Tracy Cheng from NAVO China (Nature Adventure Voyage Off-road) on May 28,2008:

"Many thanks for your care to us, to all the Chinese who suffered the earthquake. Actually, there are still some afterquakes in Sichuan, but not too many new casualties from the afterquake.

Everyone here are busy with saving people or transfering the food, tents, water and life necessity to the quake area, and help those who needed. And for us, we are working harder than usual, maybe that's our way to help the society, and on the weekend, my boss and 2-3 of us drove to the quake area. We brought the clothes, tents, medicine, food ,water etc and gave to the people who stayed in the mountain area in the quake area.

For this time, we feel that all the Chinese are working together to help the stricken people. I was deep moved for this, and I am very pround I am a Chinese. I feel that Chinese people are very strong nation, and we can rebuild very well."

Tracy goes on to explain that tours in Sichuan have been understandably suspended and the situation will probably be re-evaluated in another two months.

The Wolong Panda reserve has been damaged by the earthquake but will most likely be rebuilt. There are still no details.

We will be posting more updates on the travel situation to Sichuan Province as we find them out.

Donate your Northwest Airlines miles

If you would like to help, here are two ways that you can support this important relief effort:

1. Give Miles - Transfer WorldPerks miles to The Salvation Army in any increment and Northwest Airlines will match WorldPerks mileage transfers of up to a total of one million WorldPerks miles. Transfer miles online or if you prefer, call 1-800-327-2881. Make sure to have your WorldPerks number 200412343 and PIN ready.

2. Give Money - Donate $50 or more directly to The Salvation Army and receive 500 WorldPerks Bonus Miles. Information on donating money to AirCares partners may be found at www.nwa.com/corpinfo/aircares/donate.

Thank you for your support!

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