Dear Friends and Colleagues,

As you all know on May 12^th a magnitude 7.9earthquake hit central China. The quakerocked the homes of more than 10 million people and made most of them homeless.Right now we have seen that the death toll is rising to more than 34000, andstill more than 50000 people are buried. Time is going, beautiful lives aredisappearing, and hope is fading. My home town Dujiangyan city is right next tothe epic center, and was heavily damaged. When my sister told me that theelementary school in her neighborhood has collapsed, I was totally shocked.

During these days, we have seen so many pictures on all kindsof media, and we have talked a lot how horrible this tragedy is. Before I writethis letter I thought about collecting some pictures here so that you know whata disaster it is, and what the damages it has done to this beautiful place, andto our children, and to our hearts. However this turned out to be such adifficult work. There are just too many hear-breaking scenes that I couldn’tstop tearing.  (For earthquake picturesplease see http://news.yahoo.com/nphotos/Powerful-quake-rocks-central-China/ss/events/wl/051208chinaquake/)

So I think I’d better tell you some spirit-cheering storiesother than the loss of the beautiful lives. A 29 Year old elementary schoolteacher Miya Zhang was found trapped with his arms protecting twostudents. He saved his students at thecost of his own. The rescuers had to cut his arms to get the kids out!Preschool teacher Xiaoyan Ni saved two students when the quack hit, but herdaughter was in the same room! 5th grader girl Jie Kang jumped out of 6^thfloor when the earthquake hit, and then got back into the almost collapsedbuilding to pull her teachers out! Qingqing Deng, a junior high school girl, readher text book with flashlight while waiting for the rescuers to get her out. 12year old girl Yueyue was badly trapped and hurt. The rescuers and doctors hadto perform amputation onsite. At the last moment when this was done, she askedthe rescuer, “Uncle, am I the bravest?” In Beichuan, a county which was largelydestroyed, some highschoolers were trapped in the rubble of a five storybuilding. While awake in the darkness, they sang together, “happiness andgladness are the ending. “ Many many more stories like this happened everyday!

Dear collegues, I also would like to tell you a little bitabout my hometown. I wish I could tell everybody her beauty and lost the memoryof the pain the earthquake caused to us. Dujiangyan, a travel resort rated asAAAAA, is rich in both natural and cultural resources holding two UNESCOcultural heritage sites-Mount Qingcheng & Dujiangyan Irrigation System. Shehas a National Nature Reserve-Longxi & Hongkou within its border, which ispart of the home of pandas, The Sichuan Giant Panda Sanctuaries. For many travelersDujianyan is the must-go place in western China.

Construction of the Dujiangyan irrigation system began in the3rd century B.C. This system still controls the waters of the Minjiang Riverand distributes it to the fertile farmland of the Chengdu plains with apopulation of more than 30million. The system is a technology wonder. There isno really dam, but only lower dyke to keep the water flows naturally withdifferent direction to different way, never to break the flow with a high dam.It is considered by UNESCO as an extraordinary example of perfect union ofhuman and the nature. Mt. Qingcheng, located in the southwest of the Irrigation Project, is one of the most famous Taoist mountains in China. It isalso a very attractive and intriguing scenic spot that is covered by luxuriantand verdant trees. The mountain, which is surrounded by numerous peaks and isshaped like a city, is dubbed 'the most peaceful and secluded mountain underheaven' and combines perfectly with its evergreen scenery.

Please see here for Dujianyan pictures. http://sichuan-earthquake.spaces.live.com/

Unfortunately this disaster is destroying the ancientheritage and a beautiful city. I am very certain the survivors will rebuildthis region with supports from all over the world, but much of the beauty willonly remain just in our memory, so do many of the beautiful lives.

Please give you hands to the people there, to help them buildtheir home and their tomorrow – if there is no more devastating after-shock.Your kindness and generosity are extremely appreciated from the depth of myheart.

If you would like to make donation, here are some ofthe account numbers:

China Redcross , Citibank, Jiu Xian Qiao branch, Beijing. Acc# ：7112111482600000209

China RedcrossFoundation,  China bank, Acc# 800100086608091014.

Or you can send checks to:

Chinese Consulate General, Att:Chengyin Wang, 443 Shatto Place, LA, CA 90020. Mark you check as SichuanEarthquake Donation, and list your name and address for receipts.

Many thank!

Frank Gao