Chinese county in sorrow: the bereaved mourn in Beichuan on quake anniversary

Source: Xinhua | 05-13-2009 11:19

BEICHUAN, Sichuan, May 13 (Xinhua) -- Sitting on a rock in the ruins of Beichuan, the hardest-hit place in last May's deadly earthquake.

Wang Qingmei, 32, choked back tears in front of her daughter's photo, murmuring her regret again and again.

Characters reading "Xiang Yazi, you are always my darling daughter" were written on the photo. A plate of biscuits, cakes and oranges lay next to the photo, an offering to the dead.

Little Xiang, then a 5-year-old, had begged not to go to kindergarten on May 12 last year so she could stay home and play with a new toy.

"But I sent her to school anyway," Wang said, sobbing. She had promised to bring her daughter back home at noon, but then she and her husband got busy at their clothing store.

At 2:28 p.m., the massive quake struck, triggering landslides that shoved the kindergarten's buildings 50 to 60 meters from their original locations. Most of the school's buildings were buried so deep in the rubble that only parts of their red roofs could be seen.

Wang set off firecrackers Tuesday. Some in China believe the noise of these explosions can summon back the spirits of the dead. But Wang was never able to fulfill her promise to bring her daughter home.

"I was wrong, and I regret it," Wang said.