'We're waiting for you': netizens to missing Xizang border staff

Thousands of netizens have left messages of solidarity on the social media platform of the border inspection station in Xizang autonomous region that was hit by a devastating mudslide on Wednesday.

Communications with members of staff at the Gyirong Port in Shigatse, Xizang have been lost since it was hit by a mudslide originating in Nepal on Wednesday.

On Saturday, the official WeChat account of the Xizang general station of entry-exit border inspection, which the Gyirong Port is subordinate to, shared an update revealing it had been flooded with messages, prayers and good wishes from netizens across China since Wednesday, many reading simply "We're waiting for you to come back."

The post also featured a short video clip showing officers at the Gyirong Port. As of Saturday afternoon, it had received more than 284,000 thumbs-up and been forwarded over 4,600 times, with about 6,000 comments.

A netizen using the nickname "Nanshanxianke" commented on the video, "They (the station officers) guard the nation's gateway with their lives," drawing responses from others writing, "May a miracle be with them, and may they all return safely."

"They are the pillars of their families. This is a tragedy for so many households," wrote a netizen named "Hezhouhuaer".

Another user, who goes by the name "Wuxibancaijiejie", posted a photo of a young woman in uniform sitting on a sofa, with a caption that read: "We are all waiting for you to come back. You have never made us worry during your more than a decade of service at the border. We believe you will return safely this time too. Your 1-year-old son calls 'mom' every day."

Netizen "Yanjun" wrote, "Tears welled up in my eyes. Though we are strangers to one another, our hearts are connected. You are the people I respect the most."

A posted reply from the Xizang station read: "We seek no grand ode to heroism — only a miracle that endures. May it come, and may our fellow officers return safely."