Air raid sirens, and car, train and ship horns wailed and people stood for three minutes in silence on Monday, May 19 to mourn the tens of thousands who died in the earthquake which struck the country's southwest (the most severely affacted area: Wenchuan of Sichuan Province) on May 12. The moment of grief was observed across the vast country of 1.3 billion people at 2:28 pm, exactly a week after the devastating quake. And a three-day national mourning was held for the earthquake victims.

The silent tribute was the first of its kind for citizens killed in a natural disaster.

President Hu Jintao and other members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, as well as other officials paid a three-minute silent tribute to victims of the quake in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in Beijing yesterday. They expressed deep mourning for Wenchuan quake victims.

The national flag flew at half-mast after a flag-raising ceremony at the Tian'anmen Square in Beijing Monday morning to mourn quake death.

During the mourning days, the torch relay for the Beijing Olympic Games will be suspended to mourn the quake victims. In the headquarters of the Beijing Organizing Committee for the Olympic Games, more than 200 employees gathered in front of their office building, facing southwest, towards Sichuan, in a silent tribute.

Across the country, people honored the quake dead in various ways: Some flew black kites, children stood with lit white candles, and villagers in the northwest burnt incense sticks and fake money in rituals to see off the dead.

In front of the Potala Palace in Lhasa, capital of Tibet, residents prostrated while saying prayers for the dead.

Rescuers, including those from Japan, Russia, the Republic of Korea and Singapore, took off their helmets and briefly halted their work in quake-hit areas.

The Shanghai and Shenzhen stock exchanges and the futures exchanges in Shanghai, Zhengzhou and Dalian suspended trading for three minutes from 2:28 pm.

China Central Television blacked out its screen for the three minutes.

Overseas Chinese and Chinese diplomatic missions abroad also observed the mourning, some holding the silent tribute simultaneously despite the time difference.

The remembrance was part of a highly unusual three-day national period of mourning for those who died in the magnitude earthquake, during which deep compassion and love for the earthquake affected people are evident, powerful and overwhelming. Although in face of grave grief, Chinese people are actually doing what President Hu Jintao said in the rescue task of a quake-hit city, "I truly believe that the heroic Chinese people will not yield to any difficulty!"

                                                                                                               Edited by Emily