Sichuan has reopened 17 tourist destinations province-wide after the devastating May 12 earthquake — just in time for the National Day holiday season. Among the 17 destinations is Dujiangyan, one of the worst-hit cities in the province, and home to the collapsed Xinjian Primary School and Juyuan Middle School where many students and teachers were literally buried alive.......

Cara Anna of the AP reports police dragged away over 100 parents protesting outside the courthouse in Dujiangyan (都江堰) holding pictures of their children who died in the Sichuan earthquake:"Why?" some of them yelled. "Tell us something," they said as black-suited police wearing riot helmets yanked at them. The parents had been kneeling in front of the courthouse yelling, "We want to sue." Police dragged an Associated Press reporter and two photographers who were......

A powerful, evocative and sombre collection of photos taken by Shanghai-based Canadian photographer Chad Ingraham who has been spending time in Chengdu and Dujiangyan over the last few days.......

Scene of devastation at Juyuan Middle School (聚源中学) in Dujiangyan (都江堰) The government has announced the start of a massive probe to find out why close to 7,000 schools classrooms have been destroyed and promised that anyone found responsible for shoddy construction will be severely punished. A great many of the casualties we've seen so far are students and teachers who were still in class when the quake struck. From AFP:"If quality problems do......

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......

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......

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In this video: A student of Xinjian Primary School (新建小学) at Dujiangyan (都江堰) rescued alive and in miraculously good shape, and the joys of reuniting with his parents. Great anguish and despair among the other parents who are growing increasingly impatient and demanding to see their children dead or alive. Another video worth watching is this rescue scene at Juyuan Middle School (聚源中学) within the same city. The good news at Juyuan is that out......

Melissa Chan of Al-Jazeera is one of several foreign correspondents currently in Sichuan Province and files this story from Juyuan Middle School at Dujiangyan (都江堰) where Premier Wen Jiabao was earlier.......

Danwei points us to this CCTV segment of Prime Minister Wen Jiaobao (温家宝) speaking to quake victims at various ground zero zones, including the Juyuan Middle School at Dujiangyan that we told you about in Update 49 here. We are reminded of this fantastic loudhailer blogpost by Richard Spencer of the Daily Telegraph, "Good officials are important in China". Well worth a read.......