ErWang Temple, no more 二王庙不再

Cross posted at http://blogs.sun.com/syw

Just saw the report that ErWang Temple of DuJianYan collapsed during the earthquake. I took the picture on the left last November.

This temple was first built probably 1000 years ago. Last renovations was around 1908. It completely collapsed this time. Guess it qualifies as a once in a 100 years earthquake.

It is such as sad feeling that what I saw last year is gone forever. I had a similar sensation when the World Trade Towers collapsed during 9/11. I visiited the restaurant on top of them not too long prior to the disaster either.

The TV news showed workers spraying antiseptic over the debris. There are less and less “miracle rescue” stories and more and more on tent cities, heroic logistical efforts, and the national mourning. The whole country stood in silience for 3 minutes a few days ago. Cars stopped and honked at the same time. Many moist eyes, tears, or even crying during those minutes.

I honestly do not know if any government can do better than China handling a disaster of this scale. The actions were swift, organized, transparent, and open-minded. That 3-minute silence touched every citizens and solidified the entire country. Chinese showed their bests. Money poured in; factories mobilized to produce whatever; distribution systems efficiently move goods to the right places, even drop got a receipt from the recipient; civilians blogged, photo’ed, or emailed heart-wrenching stories.

Won’t forget this for a long, long time..

同步上网于http://blogs.sun.com/syw_zh

刚看到新闻，都江堰的二王庙全塌了。去年11月，我照了左边这张。

这千年古庙上次修是1908年。这真是百年大震。永远的失落极其伤感。上回911时，我也有相似的经验。那大难不久前我才去了世贸顶楼吃了顿饭。就没了。

现在电视播的不再是获救的报导了。成列的帐篷，拼命的抢运，举国的哀悼。全国默哀三分钟，汽车鸣笛。看到许多红的眼睛，滴下的泪，甚至出声的哭泣。

我真不知道哪个政府可能做得比中国更好。迅速，有组织，公开，能应变。默哀三分钟感动了全百姓，也凝聚了全中国。全国真是齐心齐力，捐钱的娟，工厂做应灾用物，物资有效的运输，还有收条呢。全民写博克，照像，电邮。每件都触动人心。

这真不可能忘得掉。