For this week's edition of Opinionist, we present to you some of the thoughts of Ho Kwon Ping, founder and executive chairman of the Banyan Tree Group which owns and operates a chain of award-winning premium resorts, hotels and spas, surrounding the great Sichuan earthquake. Ho, who owns resorts in Lijiang, Shangri-La and Sanya, had a close shave with the earthquake as his flight from Chengdu to Hong Kong was almost taking off when the......

Fengshen, the tropical storm that ravaged the Philippines and capsized a ferry last weekend, has moved on to Taiwan and southeast China. The storm has caused schools, markets and businesses to close in Hong Kong, but thankfully no casualties. It is expected to move north to Guangdong, where meteorological experts anticipate eight inches (200 mm) of rain to fall. Fengshen was downgraded from a typhoon to a tropical storm late last night.......

This tornado, captured here on video, ripped through Lingbi County (灵璧县) in landlocked Anhui Province last Friday at 2:20pm for about 5 minutes, tearing away 650 houses, damaging another 1,000, killing one person and injuring another 45. While there has been relatively scant media coverage of the tornado, over 20,000 people have been directly affected by the tornado. In 2005, a similar tornado killed 15 in the same county.......

For those of you that have been complaining about the wet weather in Shanghai here over the weekend, our friends in southern China have been having it far worse. Heavy rain in Sichuan, Guizhou and Yunnan provinces are causing water levels in rivers further downstream in in Jiangxi, Guangxi and Guangdong provinces to rise. Of course all this is doubly bad news for Sichuan which is still reeling from last month's earthquake. Over 1.27 million......

Selena Hsu of Current TV visits the Jiuzhou Stadium in Mianyang and discovers that while some parents have lost their children and everything else in life, they are more than willing to adopt someone else's child orphaned by the earthquake. [h/t to Danwei] Related link If you're thinking of adoption.........

Left: A man by the name of Ma Yuanjiang was rescued alive by the Shanghai rescue team 179 hours after the quake. Doctors were surprised that this man could survive for so long without a single drop of water. By the next morning Ma was already able to take light food and converse with nurses. He told nurses that he could survive for so long only because he found a companion in another woman......

Scuffles between aid volunteers and survivors of earthquake broke out in Mianyang, as victims struggled to find water and food supplies. [May 19] Teachers set up makeshift classrooms in Xiang'e, an area of China hit hard by the earthquake, in order to keep the children safe. Massive graves after the earthquake in JingXiu in China [May 17] Fears of new quake cause panic in Chengdu. Thousands of people flee the capital of Sichuan.......

This set of powerful pictures were shot during a wedding photo shoot in Pengzhou, Sichuan when the earthquake struck. All survived the disaster but it looked like one old and very beautiful looking building was badly damaged by the tremors. Click here to view larger pictures if you find the photo effects too annoying. [h/t to China Digital Times]......

Via a new blog called Speak4China which comes with the hearty recommendation of the China Law Blog: On the day the Wenchuan earthquake struck, these students from a Sichuan high school were evacuated from their building and to while away their time, they took this video of themselves pretending to do an earthquake interview on live television. One girl said she didn't care about her parents and only for the pop duo Twins, another said......

With over 30,000 dead, another tens of thousands missing, and 200,000 injured, coupled with a broken down mobile/land line and transportation system, many people are on a frantic search for each other, and Google mobilised 100 of its employees to help create a custom search engine entirely dedicated to helping people find their friends and loved ones. Other nifty tools found on this feature-rich page include Google Maps integrated with the latest earthquake and relief......

Scenes captured across Chengdu during the three minutes of silence, when all of China ground to a halt yesterday. For many Chengdu-ites, this earthquake has hit very, very close to home: After the three minutes of silence at Tiananmen Square, the crowds broke out into unanimous chants of "Long live China!" (中国万岁！) and “Go Wenchuan Go!" (汶川加油！). Similar scenes also broke out in gatherings in other major cities, and some a lot more emotional than......

It's early Monday morning and the China twitterati are abuzz with the news that all major Chinese web sites have been ordered to shutdown for the three days of national mourning which begins today. Here is an announcement sent out by the government in Hefei, Anhui, followed by Shanghaiist's translation. Good reason to believe similar announcements have been sent in other provinces and municipalities:各市、县委宣传部，各市、县网宣办（外宣办），省直各厅局，各有关网站： To all propaganda departments, online propaganda units and foreign affairs offices,......

Forwarded to us from our new friends at Chengdu's English-language magazine Chengdoo (Thanks Joe and Jane!). We are posting these up because the needs are real and time-sensitive. Many have died, but the living need help too. Now. Many areas of help are needed right now, so feel free to read through each of these and make a decision for yourself which cause is closest to your heart and which organisation you'd like to support.......

ESWN draws our attention the heart-rending story of Chen Jian. Be very sure you watch all the way to the fourth video, or don't watch at all if you don't intend to cry today: Part 1: It's May 15 at the start of this video, and 26 year old Chen Jian has already been trapped under the rubble for 73 hours. While waiting for the lifting equipment to arrive, he chatted with the reporter Zhang......

"Any trivial matter multiplied by 1.3 billion will become a big problem;Any astronomical figure divided by 1.3 billion will become a tiny number."一个很小的问题，乘以13亿，都会变成一个大问题；一个很大的总量，除以13亿，都会变成一个小数目。 — Prime Minister Wen Jiabao (温家宝) — "A little kindness multiplied by 1.3 billion will become an ocean of love;A great problem divided by 1.3 billion will become a trivial matter."一点很小的善心，乘以13亿，都会变成爱的海洋；一个很大的困难，除以13亿，都会变得微不足道。 — Chinese netizens have turned Wen's quote above into a widely-distributed Internet meme in the wake of the Sichuan earthquake......

The official death toll in the Sichuan earthquake has been revised upwards to 32,477. Deaths have also been recorded in Gansu, Shaanxi, Chongqing, Henan, Hubei and Yunnan. Within Sichuan, the Mianyang and Deyang regions suffered the most fatalities, with estimated deaths of 11,874 and 10,341 respectively. 209,900 people are reported injured, and the final death toll is expected to exceed 50,000Four foreign teams from Russia, Singapore, Japan and Korea have been allowed in to take......

UPDATE: More than RMB 20,000 in lucky draw prizes donated so far! More details here. What: Shanghaiist’s Benefit for Sichuan’s Earthquake Victims When: This Wednesday- May 21st, 2008 Where: Sasha’s Restaurant and Bar (rain or shine) 11 Dongping Lu, near Hengshan Lu (东平路11弄，近衡山路) Time: 6pm-10pm The Deal: BBQ with sausages, burgers, chicken kebabs, short ribs, salad bar, AND free flow Stella Artois beer. Veggie options will also be available. Cost: 180RMB (100% of proceeds,......

Lots of very encouraging news today:John Bergen of Sichuan Tech and Business College in Dujiangyan, the first missing foreigner that we posted here, has been found alive and kicking by NBC. He gives his account of the earthquake in the video on the right. Some of his fellow-teachers and students were not so lucky and did not escape from the earthquake, but Bergen says he is determined to stay on and help them rebuild the......

Left: In Juyuan, great mourning among the surivors who are left to pick up the broken pieces. Right: In Dujiangyan, heavy wreckage, collapsed buildings, great grief and a city that's been ground to a halt. Left: In Dujiangyan, rescue workers are in a race against time to save more lives. Right: Chengdu residents queue up to donate blood.......

In the days following the earthquake a number of stories have started surfacing about Sichuan's enormous migrant labor force and their concerns for loved ones back home. Out of the many laborers that have moved into China's rapidly developing urban areas, more come from Sichuan than any other province. A recent article from the Wall Street Journal tells us:According to official figures, eight million migrant workers come from Sichuan. But the official figures exclude many......

As residents in China, our lives could have been irrevocably changed this week by the earthquake in Sichuan province… or, as for many Shanghai residents, it could be totally unaffected. As part of Shanghaiist’s new Green Scene column, we have “borrowed” a list that shows our readers how we can make a real difference in earthquake victims’ life- today- right now. Excerpts from Crossroads, a website that provides a review of corporate social responsibility issues......

Recently, Shanghaiist has been getting a whole load of clicks from a most unlikely source, GodHatesFags.com — official website of the loonies at the highly controversial, virulently homophobic, and dangerously extremist Westboro Baptist Church. Clicking over, we found that in addition to calling us "slant-eyed bastards" for an article we wrote about them a long time ago, the "church" has just released yet another press release (pictured here), thanking God for the "Great Killer Earthquake......

Al-Jazeera: The scenes of destruction and devastation, and the smell of death. Melissa Chan wins our thumbs-up once again with this report: AP catches up with the group of British tourists that have been rescued from the Wolong Panda Preserve: AP: "The focus of rescue workers is starting to shift to a recovery mission. The death toll is already approaching 15,000 and that number is expected to skyrocket. (May 15)" France24:"While the earthquake's death toll......

If, like us, you've never been in an earthquake before, then this amateur video we found on NoCommentTV that was taken during the recent earthquake (exact location unknown) may give you some idea.......

Looks like evangelist Franklin Graham who previously made the news in the China Daily for "hoping to do more for China" is seriously putting his money where his mouth is. Speaking from Shanghai after a tour of Beijing, Hangzhou and Nanjing, the CEO of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association (named after his dad) and international Christian relief organization Samaritan's Purse has just donated a whopping RMB2 million, or US$285,000. That's a whole lot of money,......

UPDATE, 18:09 The first Japanese relief workers are expected to leave tonight. A group of 60 earthquake specialists together with sniffer dogs will head to Sichuan over the next few days. Meanwhile, the Chinese government has appealed for earth-moving equipment to aid rescue efforts in the region. Many relief workers are currently sifting through the rubble with their hands according to ABC News. The latest official death toll stands at 19,500 but is expected to......

As we told you earlier, there had been very real fears that the Zipingba Dam, 6 miles upstream from the devastated city of Dujiangyan, was displaying "extremely dangerous" cracks. The People's Daily is now reporting that the dam is "structurally stable and safe" following a full inspection. "The conclusion was reached after a panel of experts, led by Jiao Yong, Vice Minister of Water Resources, rushed to the site and made a thorough inspection of......

Though reports are varied, it now appears that the current death from the Wenchuan earthquakes is somewhere between 17,000 and 20,000 (latter figure from the Time China Blog, although most of the media is still reporting the official count at a more conservative 15,000. It's still to0 early to say just how high that figure will climb once everything is said and done, but an earlier Time's estimate put that number at around 100,000 (their......

By Julien Bertrand and Derek Sandhaus As mentioned earlier, not a day had passed since the earthquake hit and we were already seeing cynical reactions from media outlets like The First Post blaming the devastation on China's rush to modernization, but the vast majority of the coverage has been positive and supportive of the country in its time of crisis. Just yesterday, the New York Times wrote a piece on the overwhelmingly positive reaction to......

The environment NY Times: Disaster Set Off by Colliding Land Masses NPR: Geology, Engineering Contribute to Quake Damage Probe International: China's deadly quake: Is the Three Gorges Dam to blame? Treehugger: China earthquake threatens nearby dams, environment Rescue efforts The Guardian: Ill-equipped soldiers face losing battle in huge rescue operation Press TV: China rejects foreign rescue teams NY Times: Quake toll rises; China struggles to reach victims Xinhua: Wen: 90 more copters for quake......