I received this letter this afternoon (PDT) from Gordon from Dragon Teahouse in China. The situation is indeed grave and very sad.
"Dear friend, Thank you for your letter, my hometown was hit by the earthquake badly. My Mum and Dad was in Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan province,
90 Km from Wenchuan, the center of the earthquake. They told me that they saw smoke from the floor and the whole city was shaking, buildings swang from side to side. I could even felt the shake in Shanghai, more than 2000 km feom there! The whole China felt it, it is indeed a terrible one! It is lucky that my family are alright, however, the situation in the disaster area is urgent. About 9000 people died from it so far, the most important is that the first aid teams could not find their way into Wenchuan city, all ways to there were blocked by huge stones, condition about 100000 people there is still unknown, both cable and wireless phone are dead. The premier is commanding in the nearest city. About 50000 soldiers are marching there, we worried a lot about people there, it is still raining in that area. The latsest news is that 24000 soldiers are airborned there today. No further news about the center of the earthquake untill now.Many thanks,
Gordon"