The power and the glory of human nature

My 85-year-old aunt was home alone in Chengdu when the Wenchuan earthquake struck last week. Both of her children were abroad and could not come to her rightaway.

When I finally reached her on the phone two days later, the old lady sounded in high spirit and refused to leave quake-struck Sichuan. Even though aftershocks continued to shake the city off and on, she said she would stay where she was.

"Before the quake I planned to go to Beijing in June, but now I've changed my mind and I'd remain in Chengdu," she told me a few days later when I called again and asked her to come over.