Many rescue teams, including the Taipei Fire Department from Taiwan, said they were ready to help. It was difficult to move people into the hardest hit areas closest to the epicenter. It was not possible to reach the area because roads were damaged and blocked by landslides. People needed tents, medical supplies, drinking water and food. .
The small village of Sier could only be reached by walking. Landslides were a danger to a search and rescue group of 80 men. Each man carried about of relief supplies. The village is above sea level. The extreme mountain conditions meant they could not use helicopters. Over 300 Tibetan villagers were stranded in the ruined village without food and water. Commander Yang Wenyao's rescue group arrived after walking for 5 days, and helped the injured and stranded villagers down the mountain
Heavy rain and landslides made rescue efforts difficult. 20 helicopters were used on the first day to deliver food, water, emergency aid and carry injured people. The next day, 15,600 troops from the Chengdu Military Region joined the rescue force. Within 2 days telephones in the major town of Wenchuan were being fixed. 100 soldiers, along with relief supplies, parachuted into inaccessible Maoxian County, northeast of Wenchuan.
Three days after the quake, China's Premiere Wen Jiabao ordered another 90 helicopters. A total of 150 aircraft were used in relief work. This is China's largest ever non-combat airlifting operation.
After the earthquake, donations were made by people from all over China. People gave money at schools, banks, and gas stations. People also donated blood, resulting in long line-ups in most major Chinese cities.
China stated it would gratefully accept international help to cope with the quake. The Tzu Chi Foundation arrived from Taiwan on May 13. This was the first force from outside the People's Republic of China to join the rescue effort. 100 tons of relief supplies donated by the Tzu Chi Foundation and the Red Cross Society of Taiwan arrived in Chengdu by May 15.
Francis Marcus of the International Federation of the Red Cross praised China's rescue effort as "swift and very efficient". He said the size of the disaster was so big that "we can't expect that the government can do everything and handle every aspect of the needs". The "Economist" said that China reacted to the disaster "rapidly and with uncharacteristic openness". This was different to Myanmar's secretive response to Cyclone Nargis, which struck the country 10 days before the earthquake.
On May 16, rescue groups from South Korea, Japan, Singapore, Russia and Taiwan arrived to join the rescue effort. The United States shared some of its satellite images of the quake-stricken areas with the Chinese government. The US sent two U.S. Air Force C-17's carrying supplies, which included tents and generators.
The Internet has been used for passing information to help rescue and recovery in China. For example, the official Xinhua set up an online rescue request center in order to find the problems in disaster recovery. When rescue helicopters had trouble landing near the epicenter in Wenchuan, a student proposed a new landing spot online. Volunteers have also set up several websites to help store contact information for victims.
The State Council declared 3 days of national mourning (sadness) for the quake victims starting on May 19, 2008. The Chinese National Flag was raised to half-mast. It is the first time China had national mourning days for something other than the death of a state leader. Many people say it the biggest display of mourning since the death of Mao At 14:28 CST on May 19, 2008, one week after the earthquake, the Chinese public held a moment of silence. People stood silent for 3 minutes. Air defense, police and fire sirens, and the horns of vehicles, vessels and trains sounded. Cars on Beijing's roads stopped. After the silence, in Tiananmen Square, crowds began calling out "Long Live China".
The Ningbo Organizing Committee of Beijing Olympic torch relay stopped the relay for 3 days.
Chinese websites changed their front pages to black and white. Sina.com and Sohu, changed their homepage to news items only, and removed all advertisements. Chinese video sharing websites, youku and Tudou, had a black background and only showed videos about the earthquake. Other entertainment websites, including gaming sites, were blacked out. Other websites had links to earthquake donations.
Chinese TV stations made their logo in gray. They showed non-stop earthquake footage from CCTV-1. Even pay television channels, such as Channel V China, also showed earthquake footage. Some TV stations stopped showing commercials.
On May 18, CCTV-1 had a special 4 hour TV show called "The Giving of Love" (爱的奉献). Many famous people from China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Taiwan were on the show. People watching gave about 1.5 billion Chinese Yuan ($US 208 million) for the victims. The entertainers sang "Tomorrow Will be Better", followed by Faye Wong singing "Wishing We Last Forever".
Alvin Journeyman
Alvin Journeyman (1995) is an alternate history/fantasy book that was written by Orson Scott Card. It is the fourth book in Card's "The Tales of Alvin Maker" series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son. Being a seventh son of a seventh son gives him magical powers.
Province of Milan
Milan (or ) is a province in the region of Lombardy in Italy.
Red Prophet
Red Prophet (1988) is an alternate history/fantasy book by Orson Scott Card. It is the second book in Card's "The Tales of Alvin Maker" series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son. "Red Prophet" was nominated for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1988 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1989.
The second book in Card's "The Tales of Alvin Maker" series, "Red Prophet" is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son (which gives him magical powers), Lolla-Wossiky, Tenskwa-Tawa, and Ta-Kumsaw, Lolla-Wossiky's older brother.
While it is a separate story, the book continues and develops many of the themes shown in the first book. When Alvin Miller and his older brother Measure go to the place of his birth (where Alvin is supposed to become apprenticed to the Hattrack River blacksmith) the two brothers are captured by 'Reds' (Native Americans) and brought into a plot with possibilities of affecting the entire future of America.
Province of Pavia
Pavia is a province in the region of Lombardy in Italy.
Province of Sondrio
Sondrio is a province in the region of Lombardy in Italy.
Province of Varese
Varese is a province in the region of Lombardy in Italy.
Prentice Alvin
Prentice Alvin (1989) is an alternate history/fantasy book that was written by Orson Scott Card. It is the third book in Card's "The Tales of Alvin Maker" series and is about Alvin Miller, the seventh son of a seventh son (this gives him magical powers). "Prentice Alvin" was considered for the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1989 and the Hugo Award for Best Novel in 1990.
After being released from his time with Ta-Kumsaw, an Indian leader who taught Alvin the ways of Indian people, he sets out to start his apprenticeship as a Smith in the town where he was born.
While there he meets a young half-black boy by the name of Arthur Stuart, the son of a slave and a slave-owner who has been taken in by the owners of the town's guesthouse.
Another new friend comes in the form of Miss Peggy Larner, who he later finds out that she is the "torch" who helped him to be born so many years ago, and with whom he has been linked to since that day.
Eventually, Alvin is forced into helping Arthur to escape from some slave-hunters, which requires him to change Arthur's DNA to prevent the hunters' knacks (powers) from finging him. Alvin also creates a plow of living gold, which is bestowed with magic, as his journeyman work to release himself from his apprenticeship as a Smith (and also as a Maker).