China mourns quake victims one year after quake

CHINA IN GRIEF

Not far from the graveyard was remnant of the Xuankou Middle School, where a ceremony was held at 2:28 p.m., the exact time when many clocks stopped in the quake last year, when more than 19,000 lost their lives in the disaster.

Representatives mourn for the victims in the fatal May 12,  2008 Wenchuan earthquake during a ceremony marking the first  anniversary of the quake in Qingchuan County, southwest China's  Sichuan Province, on May 12, 2009.(Xinhua Photo)

The ceremony was attended by Chinese President Hu Jintao and Vice Premier Li Keqiang.

In front of a white sculpture of a symbolic clock, all those inside the commemoration venue stood in silent tribute, before China's national flag was hoisted on the remnant.

Hu, who later placed a white chrysanthemum for the dead, expressed condolences to the victims in the May 12 Sichuan earthquake and to those who sacrificed their lives during the quake relief.

The grief was felt all over China.