Sichuan Quake

It's different when a quake hits a place that you're familiar with, as opposed to, say, Cyclone Nargis in Myanmar. I've been to Sichuan 3 times in 2 years for long climbing expeditions, and spent much time travelling up-down those bumpy public roads into the mountains and such. Those places that are mentioned in the news all ring a bell - a signage along the roads, the mountain ranges, Chengdu etc. Our climbing guides are from one of the autonomus minority tribes there, the youth hostel in Chengdu we so loved staying at every climbing season is run by a Singaporean-Teochew who married a Japanese wife, the climbing huts at the mountain base that seem like 3-star luxury after 2 weeks of tents & snow. They are safe for now. But one thing I think the Chinese have in abundance is resilience. Heart-wrenching stories that shock us, they simply shrug them off 'that's life' and move on. Very tough people, hardened by survival instincts in a massly populated country, they can bounce back in no time.