Tears and pity: Chinese hearts go out to victims
By Zhou Liming (China Daily)
Updated: 2005-01-01 00:15

Hua Xiren had just seen the funniest movie of the year. Yet it did not brighten up her day. Instead she has constantly had tears rolling down her cheeks.

"I have been so sad at the ruthlessness of nature that Stephen Chow's Kung Fu Hustle could not, even for a moment, dispel the all-consuming sorrow welling up in me," she wrote in a Netease movie forum.

Hua is a graphic designer from Zhejiang Province who is currently working in Singapore.

"If the direction of the tsunami had been reversed, this small place might have been wiped out. I shiver when I think of the consequences. Looking at Phuket, a paradise that instantly turned into hell on earth, and the high death toll in Sri Lanka, I want to burst into crying," she told China Daily.

Hua Xiren is just one of many Chinese whose hearts go out to the victims of the tragedy that hit Southeast Asia over the weekend. They have been watching or reading the news and praying for those ravaged by the catastrophe.

"When nature is brutal, it's more important that we show each other human compassion:" Many quoted the age-old Chinese aphorism.

Public attention was first focused on Chinese tourists who were at the wrong place at the wrong time. But as the death toll keeps being adjusted upwards and more details of the disaster trickle in, the gravity started to sink in.

"I am totally stunned by the senseless loss of so many lives. I don't know what to say," said one posting on the website of People's Daily.

Some have been asking how they can help and where they can make donations.

A Chinese student with the net name viving_118 wrote on Blogcn that, although she lives in a coastal town in Thailand, she did not feel the severity of the calamity until she got back to her dorm and saw the news.

"Many of my schoolmates are from Phuket. Some live right by the beach. Some of their homes were swept away while others are lucky to have parents who are safe. I don't know how to comfort them," she wrote. She ended up donating some money to her school's relief effort.

Cao Yanyan narrowly escaped the disaster when she returned to Beijing on Saturday. The China Travel Service tour guide makes a weekly trip to Phuket, a favourite destination for international tourists and unfortunately one of the worst hit by the tsunami.

Cao has always been impressed by the friendly smiles of the Thai people.

"They are so nice to everyone and to the Chinese tourists," she said, adding that tourists should avoid Phuket right now but routes to places like Bangkok should not be affected. The tourist money one spends there can be a form of help after all, she added.

"We should help them in whatever ways we can. It's not just because they are our neighbours, but whoever they are and wherever they are, we should reach out to them in their moment of need," said Cao.

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