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"