Yuexiu County, Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture, Sichuan

A 5.0 earthquake hit Sichuan Province this morning, shaking buildings and knocking items off shelves. Fortunately there are no reports of any deaths, reports the People’s Daily Online.

The State Seismological bureau said the earthquake stuck Yuexi county in Liangshan Yi Autonomous Prefecture today at 9:23am. The epicenter was 15,000 meters below the surface 39 kilometers from Yuexi County.

The Liangshan fire department has been dispatched to Baoshi and Gu’er, the villages hit hardest by the earthquake.

Guo ignited a firestorm of netizen fury after she posted pictures of her wealth online in June 2011 while asserting she was a general manager for the Red Cross. The controversy sparked a backlash against the Red Cross and prompted some Chinese to disavow the organization.

The Red Cross admitted that “three years of rumors and complaining may not be enough to clear the debt”, but still appealed to the virtuous nature of the public:

During this late night we have some colleagues who are packing up their bags to rush over to the earthquake disaster zone in Zhaotong, other colleagues have spent the entire night organizing more relief supplies, while other colleagues deep in the plains of Inner Mongolia to screen impoverished children for heart disease are getting ready to go… with so many people and places that we need to focus on, let’s look at the real facts and take a breath. Please forget her; we need to get operational again.

As if there was a concerted, organized effort to do the exact opposite, Guo Meimei is back in the news. On the official Weibo account for CCTV News, there were nine posts regarding Guo Meimei in a 30 minute time frame after midnight (12:03, 12:10, 12:21, 12:23, 12:24, 12:25, 12:27, 12:30, 12:33) dealing with her being arrested for gambling and prostitution-related crimes.

Here are two of those posts. This one is from 12:03 this morning:

Gambling, flaunting of wealth, sex trade.
Beijing police have stated as the result of an investigation that Guo opened a gambling parlor and has earned hundreds of thousands of yuan. In 2010, 19 year-old Guo Meimei established herself as a kept woman for Wang Jun. After their relationship ended, Guo engaged in prostitution with contacts made over the internet and in person with each transaction worth several tens of thousands of yuan. An assistant for Guo stated, “There was a period of time when she would bring a new man home with her and wanted me to keep count.

This CCTV News post is the fifth out of nine such posts, published at 12:24 am:

How did Guo Meimei get involved with the Red Cross?
“A friend named Weng had purchased a Bo’ai company, and I invested five million and got 10 percent in stock.” As promised by the “godfather” to Guo Meimei, Mr Wang, Guo would become the company’s CEO. In order to better flaunt her money, Guo had her Weibo account show her occupation had changed from “singer and actress” to “China Red Cross business general manager”.

With constant reminders of Guo’s involvement with the Chinese Red Cross, it’s not surprising netizens aren’t in a mood to forget her, or forgive the Red Cross. 

各种妹纸罒3罒：
You’re letting her take all the blame and be your patsy.. Hehe

失心疯了的孟浩：
Please allow me to ask a question: if the all the allegations against the Red Cross are false, then why didn’t the Red Cross report her that year? Why hasn’t the police arrested her? Why is her Sina account is authenticated by the Red Cross? Can all of these questions be explained?

冷血一滴：
Does CCTV have a lack of prostitutes?

夏阳么么哒：
Too funny, are you trying to insult the IQ of the public? Mr Wang didn’t know (Guo was) a CEO? Guo Meimei didn’t know about the Red Cross? There’s no comparison between the two?

高乐高0210：
In three years, the Red Cross hasn’t been able to prove the innocence of one little prostitute?

可儿可恋：
*Falls off chair* Please tell me CCTV, what’s the point of all these updates? I’d like to trouble you to please focus upon the earthquake in Yunnan and other important affairs affecting the county. [sweat.emo]

Photos: CCTV News, screencaps of CCTV News Weibo account (1, 2)

UPDATE 10, 2:08 pm August 4: The death toll now stands at 391.

***

UPDATE 9, 11:09 am August 4: A new update puts the death toll at 381.

By individual area, the fatalities are as follows: Zhaotong reports 302 fatalities, Zhaoyang District reports one fatality, Qiaojia Country reports 66 fatalities, and Huize County in Qujing reports 12 fatalities.

The Chinese National Earthquake Department has categorized the response to this earthquake at category one.

***

UPDATE 8, 1:39 am August 4: As of 12:30 am on August 4, the Propaganda Department of the City of Zhaotong has announced that a total of 367 people have died from the earthquake.

By individual area, the list of casualties are as follows: the Zhaoyang District of the city of Zhaoyang has reported one fatality; Ludian County has reported 296 fatalities with 1,591 injured; Qiaojia County has reported 60 fatalities; and Huize County has reported ten fatalities.

***

UPDATE 7, 1:18 am August 4: The latest update by the official Weibo account of the City of Zhaotong  puts the death toll of the Ludian category 6.5 earthquake at 230.

221 fatalities are reported in the jurisdiction of Zhaotong, while nine deaths are reported in Huize County.

***

UPDATE 6, 10:58 pm August 3: According to the National Ministry of Civil Affairs, a revised list of casualties resulting from the earthquake puts the total number of fatalities at 175 with 1402 injured and 181 missing.

By individual area, the casualties are listed as follows: Qiaojia, Zhaotong reports 49 dead, one missing, and 102 injured; Ludian, Zhaotong reports 122 dead, 180 missing, and 1300 injured; and Huize County, Qujing reports four dead.

A major aftershock has been reported in the same area as the first earthquake that occurred this afternoon. According to the National Center for Seisomology, an aftershock rated at 4.1 has struck Ludian County in the City of Zhaotong, Province of Yunnan.

The earthquake occurred at 10:28 this evening at at 27.1 latitude north and 103.3 longitude east, the same exact coordinates as the first earthquake, with the epicenter located 11,000 meters below the surface.

The first earthquake to strike Yunnan today is the first earthquake over 6.5 to occur in Yunnan since 2000. In a 200 km radius of Ludian, there have been 44 earthquakes over category 5 throughout recorded history.

***

UPDATE 5, 9:41 pm August 3: As of 8:42 pm, the road from Qiaojia to Ludian has been cleared, while the road from Zhaotong to Ludian was cleared earlier on, both allowing for the unfettered transport of relief supplies and equipment into the disaster zone.

In the two hours since the tremors started, there have been a total of 107 aftershocks recorded.

***

UPDATE 4, 8:42 pm August 3: A comprehensive tally of fatalities from all areas affected by the earthquake now stands at 150.

As of 8 pm, the Ludian People’s government has verified that there are now over 120 fatalities in its jurisdiction.

In neighboring areas, 26 fatalities have been reported in Qiaojia County with another four fatalities in Huize County.

Additionally, the local government of Ludian has announced that 180 people are missing in its jurisdiction with a total of 1,300 people injured. As well, it reports that due to the earthquake there are 12,000 collapsed buildings with a total 30,000 people affected by the disaster.

Transportation routes, electricity, communications to the disaster area have all been cut off.

***

UPDATE 3, 8:17 pm August 3: CCTV is now reporting fatalities from the earthquake have risen to 34 for the areas including Huodehong Township in Ludian, Qiaojia County, and Huize County in Qujing.

Five people are currently reported missing with over a hundred people injured.

Rain is forecast for the next three days for the disaster zone with heavy rain scheduled from August 4 to 5. Authorities say the weather will hamper rescue efforts.

***

UPDATE 2, 7:35 pm August 3: According to CCTV, the Qiaojia local government has verified that there are currently 26 dead and 79 injured resulting from the earthquake at the current time.

A girl is said to still be trapped in debris at the Shaba Elementary School in Shaba.

The City of Zhaoqing has announced it is now taking level 3 earthquake emergency procedures while the Provincial Civil Affairs Bureau has announced it is sending 2000 tents, 500 towels, 3000 folding beds, 3000 mattresses, 3000 pairs of cotton clothes to the disaster zone.

Rescue crews are now on the scene. Many buildings are reported to have collapsed from the earthquake.

***

UPDATE 1, 7:22 pm August 3: The epicenter of the earthquake has been identified as Longtoushan Township, located 20 kilometers away from the Zhaotong urban center.

Roads leading to Longtoushan have been blocked by landslides of earth and rock.

At 6:07 pm, emergency crews were reported to be only 40km away, and said to arrive at the disaster zone within one hour. Furthermore, the 14th army battalion stationed in Yunnan has been mobilized.

Published pictures of the earthquake zone show an unspecified number of casualties along with wide-spread damage to buildings in the area.

***

At 4:30pm on August 3, a category 6.5 earthquake struck Yunnan

Province at Ludian County in the municipal zone of the City of Zhaotong, reports Sina News.

The earthquake was so strong that it could be felt throughout Yunnan and in neighboring Sichuan Province. Netizens reported feeling the tremors in the cities of Kunming, Chengdu, Leshan and Chongqing.

The epicenter of the quake was recorded at 12,000 meters below the surface.

We will have further updates on this developing story.

Photos: Yunnan Fire Department (2), China Daily (2, 3, 4), Shenzhen Evening Report, People’s Daily (2, 3, 4, 5), Foshan Daily, CCTV News, Beijing Youth Daily

Weekend Gallery is our seven-day wrap up of pictures from around the internet.

We had previously featured the process of animization in our feature “How to Attract a Chinese Man Part 1: A Cartoon You is a Sexier You“, and here are some more examples on how to flatten your face and give yourself flawless skin in the perfect makeover you’ve been waiting for:

And here’s the ideal example in both human and anime forn, Fan Bingbing:

On the related topic of ideal optimization of physical appearances, a Weibo user named “Shallow Creek Luo” (罗浅溪) has taken the trend of bodypainting on pregnant bellies to the next level by painting 3D pregnancy x-rays:

Photos: (Animization) Weibo (1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8); (3D Pregnant X-ray body paint) Weibo

While we had earlier told you about the economic downturn suffered by hotel industry in Dongguan, it was reported that Dongguan’s contribution to the GDP has actually increased by 7.3 percent in the first quarter of this year to RMB 118.23 billion. I guess there’s nothing to do now but work?

The Guiyang-Guangzhou high-speed railway is scheduled to open at the end of this year. Expected to last a total time of six hours, trial runs on the Zhaoqing-Guangzhou section of the line is scheduled to begin on November 1.

A pilot program to introduce an immigration smart card will be available to Guangdong residents in May. The smart card will embedded with a microchip with the users personal information, and should cut down on processing times.

There’s a popular backlash going on against that one Chinese show that we had such high hopes for, A Bite of China. Netizens have been complaining that the tone of the show has shifted to contain more nationalistic sentiments, and has less to do with telling stories about cuisine than it does about propaganda. As well, this post helpfully points out that the first scene from the first show appears to be a shot-for-shot plagarism of a BBC documentary (see above).

Starting next week, 10 unmarked police cars will be joining the regular fleet of police cars in Shenzhen. Police will still be required to dress in police uniforms, though.

Guangzhou markets will be trying out a pilot program to sell frozen chicken meat. 82 markets and 894 stalls will be taking part in this flirtation with refrigeration.

On April 21, a man man blocked traffic on Baogang Boulevard in Zhuhai District, Guangzhou, and unsuccessfully tried to kidnap a child in broad daylight. Police say they think the suspect is “crazy”, and has scheduled him for testing.

7,301 Guangzhou children compete to win one of the 893 spots available for public kindergarten. And may the odds be ever in your favor.

As US fashion exports decrease by 4.1% in February, Dongguan textile makers are anticipating a slowdown in the oncoming year.

Four parcels of land with a total area of 74,300 square meters in the Qianhai Special Economic Zone in Guangzhou have been sold. The largest of these lots has been purchased by Tencent Holdings, who in turn are now accepting bidders to lease its future office space. Applicants must be listed internet companies that have made revenue of 40 billion yuan for the past year, so start counting your mao’s and fen’s.

Photo: Weibo, iFeng

Over the past century, Guangdong and its adjacent waters have seen 12 earthquakes that measured at least 6 on the Richter scale.

This project is the result of “Pearl River Delta Earthquake Reduction Agreement,” which the China Seismological Bureau and the provincial government signed in late 2011.

The stations, also known as seismic stations, will have different types of seismic instruments that can record earthquake waves traveling trough the interior of the earth and its surface. They will be located 15 km apart and each will be able to report seismic activity within 10 seconds of it starting.

According to Nanfangwang, southeast China can be divided into seven seismic activity zones, five of which are wholly or partly in Guangdong.

These include Nan’ao-Nanpeng, at which there were was an earthquake measuring 7.0 on the Richter scale in 1600 and another in 1918 measuring 7.5. The latter wiped out 80% of the local population.

There is also Heyuan-Shaowu, at which there was an earthquake in 1962 measuring 6.1 that killed 85 people.

The Lianhua Mountain seismic area, which stretches from Shenzhen’s coast to central Fujian, has seen five earthquakes.

The biggest earthquakes in western Guangdong were one in Dianbai in 1611 that measured 6.0 and one in Yangjiang in 1969 that measured 6.4. The 1969 quake killed 32 people and destroyed 30,000 houses.

In February this year, a 4.8 magnitude earthquake in Heyuan could be felt in the metropolises of the Pearl River Delta.

Mainland media are reporting a 4.8 magnitude quake struck Heyuan City in central Guangdong at 11:34 this morning at a depth of about 11 kilometres.

The Hong Kong Observatory has said that it’s aware of reports, but is analyzing data and will have more later.  There are no reports (yet) of any damage, but it’s early and we’ll keep you updated as we get more info.

In China, I bet [people] would have immediately broken into and looted the surrounding convenience stores/supermarkets.

A tiny pellet of a country, with nothing [few resources], being able to beat the shit and piss out of Russia and China…is not without reasons…

In Japan, the cars yield to the people. In China, the cars can’t wait to run over your body, even if you have the green light and the car is making a turn.

Without bringing up anything else, on the character exhibited when fasting disaster, we really can’t compare.
Even when there is no disaster, for simply sitting in a seat or using the toilet, we’re capable of fighting and arguing over.

We won’t post some of the more negative (read: ignorant) comments posted on Weibo, but you can read them for yourselves here. Of course, ignorance isn’t just a trait found in China. But such is the reaction when disaster befalls a nation that is despised by a great many Chinese people for its historical atrocities.

On a positive note, Premier Wen Jiabao addressed the Japanese earthquake at the close of the National People’s Congress yesterday:

It was only at the very end of his nearly 2.5-hour press conference on Monday that Premier Wen Jiabao turned his attention to Japan. He first asked if there were Japanese journalists among the gathering of hundreds (there were), then said he didn’t want to take a question from them, but had something to say. Wen offered China’s “deep condolences” to Japan.

Wen meets with reporters once every year, at the close of the National People’s Congress. He takes a pre-screened selection of questions from journalists from China and other countries. This year no Japanese reporter was called on. Instead, Wen made a statement.

“China is also a country prone to earthquake disasters and we fully empathize with how they feel now,” Wen said. “We will provide more as Japan needs it and we want to continue to help as necessary.”

Some (such as Slate) are arguing that as one of the world’s richest countries, Japan doesn’t necessarily need cash donations, if you wish to help. Instead, the country will likely need blood, which you can donate at any Red Cross in the PRD (there are many).