主题：【原创】西人对募捐的想法 -- 建筑师

俺的英文文章，供大家替中国人占领道德高地

I am so thankful that China is not the US

At 2:28 Pm May 12, a 7.9-magnitude earthquake hit southwest Sichuan province of China. The epicenter was in Wenchuan, 154 kilometers from the province capital Chengdu (my family there is Ok, thanks to those friends who asked). The massive quake could be felt through a large part of China, and even as far as Thailand. Around 10 million people in the province were directly affected and so far the casualty estimate is 50,000.

For the last few days, I have been glued to the phone and computer screen. As someone who also followed the aftermath of Katrina, I can only say: I am so thankful that China is not the US. The prime minister was on a plane to the province within 90 minutes. Tens of thousands of soldiers sprung into rescue efforts almost instantly. Though most of the100-kilometer road to the epicenter was totally destroyed and was under constant threat of mudslides and aftershocks, some managed to get in within 24 hours. Once again, the People’s Liberation Army lives up to its name: they are the ones people can count on during time of crisis, even though many soldiers themselves are mere 17 or 18 year old kids. Very few cases of looting have been reported so far. In all major cities, people lined up to donate blood, sometimes being told to come back later because the blood station has filled up all the storage. In Chengdu, thousands of taxi drivers and car owners have organized themselves to ship supplies into the disaster area and ship the wounded out, without anybody paying them a penny or giving them an order. So many ordinary people perform extraordinary deeds in the face of disaster: A 21 year old kindergarten teacher shielded a toddler from tons of falling concrete, saving the kid with her own life; a low level cadre spent 24 hours on a collapsed school coordinating the dig, while his own 78-year old mother was buried under some rumble, presumably dead; an entrepreneur organized a whole fleet of construction equipments for the rescue; an old grandma made 3,000 breads over night to feed the need. Everyone pitched in to help each other.

I don’t know how many times tears welled up in my eyes in the last two days: tears of sadness, tears of sorrow, tears of empathy and many other emotions. This is the China I grew up with; this is the China I once knew so well and have been missing about. Yes, it has been in the retreat in the last twenty years, under the relentless attack of extreme individualism and money worship promoted by the “holy free market” and the “more superior” western civilization. Yet, it springs back into life when the people are in dire need: rich or poor, men or women, old or young, we are all in this together.

Like many other places in the world, China has many challenges: corruption, environmental degradation, growing gap between the rich and the poor, to just name a few. Not to the mention the global triple crisis: resource depletion, peak oil and global warming, which may manifest themselves more severely than average because of the high population density there. I have to admit that while dealing with these topics, sometimes I cannot help feeling a sense of hopelessness, for both China and the world. Now, in this time of great distress and sorrow, seeing the huge natural disaster brings out the best of people in my own city, my own province and my own country, I am being humbled and have a renewed hope for humanity.