'After disaster, life continues'

ZHOUQU, Gansu - Tuesday was our third day in the disaster area. The sadness on people's faces was fading into blank expressions of numbness. While an overwhelming sense of death and sorrow hung in the air, life carried on, as some food stores, banks and even a stationer reopened for business.

A group of children, some with scratches on their faces, appeared to have absorbed the initial shock of the tragedy, as they mixed with new friends they met in the blue tents where they have been temporarily housed.

Construction workers who survived the tragedy played cards in the corner of their shelters at night after completing their voluntary rescue work for the day.