by Dong Chen

In Chengdu, a city already mourning 45 victims of yesterday's earthquake, the freezing night of May 12-13 was punctuated by powerful aftershocks. But the city fought back with love and goodwill as people spontaneously gathered to donate blood, food, water and other supplies to those in need.

23:50 AM. Mrs. Yan, who lives near Jinsha, northwest of Chengdu, has set up her own small relief operation in an outdoor car park. "People should help each other in times of crisis. Tomorrow is another day," Mrs. Yan tells a Xinhua reporter as she distributes food and water from the boot of her car.

12:20 AM. More than 300 Chengdu citizens have gathered to give blood at the Linyin Street blood center, in an area surrounded by dangerous tall buildings. The citizens are prepared to queue all night to give blood, despite aftershocks measuring over 5 on the Richter scale. "I have never seen so many volunteers turn up so quickly, without regard to their own safety," says Doctor Yu, who works at the blood center.

1:00 AM. Deputy Manager of China Unicom's Chengdu division, Wang Yanchuan, donates hundreds of CDMA 133 cell phones to the Chengdu Earthquake Bureau. He says China Unicom will provide a continuous service to all its subscribers in earthquake-hit areas, regardless of whether the phones are in credit. Overnight, more than 1000 free cell phones (each with 280 yuan in call credits) were distributed to the rescue effort.

7:00 AM. Officials from the Sichuan Earthquake Bureau, police, firefighters and government officials assemble to organize the response to the crisis. People from all walks of life including Party members, telecommunications staff and media crews have been working continuously through the night.

(China.org.cn May 13, 2008)