By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-21 16:59

Once the driver reversed the truck loaded with packed plastic bags of milk and boxes of dried vegetables to a freight train compartment in a logistics station in south Beijing, soldiers waiting inside the truck began to transfer the goods.

"Be careful with the milk! The packs can be easily damaged. Careful not to step on them," warned a railway staff person nearby.

An emergency train with banners reading "Beijing-Sichuan Heart-to-Heart" had its 46 compartments loaded with quake relief goods, left the Dahongmen Logistics Base at 3 pm Wednesday bound for Sichuan.

The trip will likely take more than the usual traveling time of 24 hours, because some railways linking Beijing and Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan are still damaged.

But trains carrying relief goods were given priority, to fast-track crucial items to the victims of the earthquake, said Guan Xiaobao, an official with the Beijing Railway Bureau.

"I've been told previous shipments of materials from Beijing on rail takes just over 40 hours," Wu Zhenbang, a transportation official with the Beijing railway, told about 60 foreign and domestic reporters in a tour organized by the Beijing Olympic media center.

Most logistics railway stations in Beijing are sending relief shipments to Sichuan. Extra freight train compartments were ready for any additional goods.

Beijing railway has sent 93 emergency freight trains to quake-hit areas so far, bringing tents, clothes, blankets, food, and even vehicles, such as ambulances, to the frontline. Five dump trucks were also sent on the train yesterday to clear the debris in the worst hit towns.

Construction vehicles, water trucks and disinfecting trucks are also going to be sent in the coming days to help with the rebuilding, the next priority in the quake relief.

Disaster relief officials in Beijing are on the phone with their counterparts in Sichuan everyday to decide what materials are needed, explained Wu Shimin, director of the Beijing civil affairs bureau.

A special donation office for the quake is responsible of receiving money and materials. More than 811 million yuan ($116.3 million) in cash and materials worth over 99 million yuan ($14.2 million) were collected in Beijing as of Monday afternoon.

Relief materials from across the country, including about 140,000 tents, 800,000 blankets and 2 million pieces of cotton clothing, have already reached Sichuan.

"I have donated dry noodles because young children love them," said Zheng Yuanjie, a well-known children's author, who came to the logistics station with a truck loaded with 50,000 packs of dry noodles. He is known for writing such books as Pipilu and Luxixi, having sold over 55 million copies nationwide.

"I will start donating books," he said. Zheng has also written blog entries and appeared on television shows to raise relief funds. "Children in quake-hit areas need mental therapy. Books are the best therapists."