1,On May 18, Chinese President Hu Jintao tries to comfort an earthquake surviving pupil at Liangkeshu Aid Center, Shifang City of southwest China's Sichuan Province which was hit by a devastating 8.0-magnitude tremor on May 12. (Ju Peng/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

2,On May 16, Chinese President Hu Jintao discusses rescue and relief work after the earthquake with his aides while flying to Mianyang City of Sichuan Province, one of the worst hit areas. (Ju Peng/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

3,President Hu Jintao talks to a survivor at a shelter for earthquake survivors in Nanhe Sports Center, Mianyang City of Sichuan Province, on May 16. The Mianyang City now has some 600,000 earthquake-affected people. (Ju Peng/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

4,Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao makes way for a rescue team when he visits Qushan Town, Beichuan County of Sichuan Province to see the damages caused by the earthquake on May 14. (Yao Dawei/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

5,On May 13, at what was the Xinjian Primary School in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province, Premier Wen Jiabao squats on the rubble and calls out to the pupils trapped under the debris: "I'm Grandpa Wen Jiabao. Kids, you must hold on, and you will be rescued." (Yao Dawei/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

6,A few hours after the earthquake hit Sichuan on May 12, Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao arrives at Dujiangyan City close to the epicenter of Wenchuan County. He picks up a pair of shoes and a school bag left over by the young victims at a collapsed local schoolhouse, with a sad look on his face. (Yao Dawei/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

7,On May 20, Chinese Vice President Xi Jinping visits quake survivors at Xujiaping Village in Lueyang County of Shaanxi Province. The earthquake that struck Sichuan directly also seriously affected some of the neighboring provinces, including Shaanxi and Gansu. (Ma Zhancheng/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

8,On May 18, Chinese Vice Premier Li Keqiang leans over to comfort a young survivor at Pingtong Town, Pingwu County of Sichuan Province. Li visits the hardest hit area of Mianyang City to direct and coordinate rescue and disease control work. (Lan Hongguang/Xinhua)

 

 

 

 

9, At 14:28 Beijing time on May 19, the exact moment of the deadly earthquake that hit Sichuan one week earlier, Chinese President Hu Jintao and other top Party and state leaders paid a three-minute silent tribute to the quake victims in the central government compound of Zhongnanhai in central Beijing. The nation of 1.3 billion people came to a standstill in the three minutes on May 19 afternoon, in remembrance of the 40,000-strong lives lost to the catastrophe, as the highlight of a three-day National Mourning Period for the quake dead from 19 to 21, the first of its kind in Chinese history.

Fan Rujun/Xinhua

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