China mourns quake dead, draws lessons (2)

MOURNING

Wang's parents joined a tearful crowd for a period of public mourning at 8:02 a.m., the exact time that the quake struck last week.

They pinned white flowers to their chests, lowered their heads and stood in silence for three minutes in memory of those who died in the quake. Horns and sirens wailed in the distance.

A total of 196 people were confirmed dead as of Friday.

Jam Zomyang, a 68-year-old Tibetan woman, was in tears as she stood on the sportsground of a secondary school in Baoxing, one of the worst-hit counties in Ya'an City.

Though her own home was seriously damaged in the quake, Jam Zomyang said she was relieved that there were no casualties in her neighborhood. "We've been chanting sutra for the deceased, hoping their souls will rest in peace."

When Li Shaohua stopped to mourn, he was instantly gripped by grief and despair. For a week, he has worked from dawn to midnight, helping relief workers distribute supplies and set up tents for villagers. "I can't stop, lest I'd miss my wife and daughter terribly," said Li.

His wife Wang Mei died while trying to save their 9-year-old daughter. Both were buried in the debris of their toppled home.

Before their roof collapsed, Wang had taken her 90-year-old mother-in-law outside to safety. "She'd have survived with our daughter," said Li, who burned joss paper and incense as an offering for the dead.

In the provincial capital Chengdu, sirens wailed and horns on buses and trains were blown. Many citizens stopped on their way to work, stood in tribute and placed white flowers at a public mourning site on Tianfu square in the city center.

Mourning activities were also held outside Sichuan Province.

In the central province of Hubei, runners competing in a long-distance race put up a slogan that read "Carry on, quake-ravaged Ya'an" while everyone lowered their heads to mourn.

Monks at the Jokhang Temple in the heart of Lhasa chanted sutra to pray for the dead.