Now that you have seen for yourselves, are you prepared to accept the fact that Chinese can accomplish some honorable deeds to face down the worst natural disaster in China's history?

As you look at the main picture of the quake lake showing the the earth and mud slide blockage, you see the quake lake forming upstream. On the down stream side you see a "power blue" coloured water. Why is downsteam water coloured "powered blue", and why is it there? I expected downstream to drain away.

Think they can come over and clean up New Orleans which in areas looks like Katrina HIT last week and still 40,000 displaced after 3yrs

Where do I see this photo???

Ask Mr. Bush to go to New Orleans to clean the areas up, just like the Chinese PM Wen did.

Perhaps you should understand why with resources stretched thin, the priority on helicopter flights is on saving people, and not transporting journalists; getting CNN's ratings up doesn't deserve chinese tax-payer money at this point.

Hello Wilf,

I just watched the video, it was so real. it's amazing that you and your team could make it. Thanks for writing.

To ystsai (who says "Now that you have seen for yourselves, are you prepared to accept the fact that Chinese can accomplish some honorable deeds to face down the worst natural disaster in China’s history?"): who said that Chinese can not accomplish things? Why are bringing in the same nationalistic tone that made so many westerners doubt about your "accomplishments"? Plus, is this the "worst natural disaster in your history? I recently read that there was a few years ago a bigger earthquake. Be reasonable and the world will be on your side. Be just blind and brainwashed and you will see the results...

It is refreshing to see CNN finally started talking to Chinese, 20 years after setting up shop in China. Hiking for news can be harder than calling the 7 dissident sources whenever something is up in China. The facts may not always match what you were taught to believe by the public school system. But, as we say in America, seeing is beliving. Other news organizations like NPR still don't get it.

China is racing ahead to join developed countries club for sure; admirable engineering and will power shows.

To corn, there was a huge quake in Tangshan, China 32 years ago.
This time, the 8.0 rs. quake in Sichuan Province is said to be 3 times more destructive. It affects approximately 2,7920,000 people, involving an area over 100,000 sq. km.

My only point in making my earlier comment was to remind the American public that while there are "goons and thugs" in China just as in the US, not all Chinese nor Americans, are "goons and thugs" as certain broadcaster at CNN would like people to believe. Let us be charitable to one another, ok?

CNN, Thank you for your objective and fair covering of the earthquake. I was not happy with your biased covering of China in general in the past. I admire you for your professonal and fair report this time. I am a Chinese who live in the U.S. for over 20 years. I received my professonal training in the U.S. and worked for a state court too. For sure I am not brainwashed by the Chinese government.

Yes, it is totally a trek for a team of journalists to send us the report from the monster quake lake. Other than reporting the hard journey you took, we seldom see how hard is the PLA' rescure work.

Too many touching stories were covered from Chinese meida. Hopefully CNN could get more in-depth interview.

I am glad someone went to get the pictures so I could see more of what is going on. It seems more real the more I look at it, and my sense of how big it is, I feel is more accurate the more I investigate. I hope this does not happen again to anyone, but I know natural disasters are a part of life in the world.

powder blue. not power blue.

Hey, vijay, what did you mean by "China is racing ahead to join developed countries club for sure; admirable engineering and will power shows"? When so many schools collapsed and hundreds of pupils died, you call this "admirable engineering"? I guess China's people are still under the heavy influence of the party, which wants to make people forget that their children died and so, nobody should be held responsible. This is one huge difference between China and the Western world: in the West, each person matters and no one is above the law, while in China, where children die because of neglect and corruption, no one is responsible and the government looks "admirable".

I don't see the Chinese government or the PLA being admirable, they just do what should be done... those are their duties... to protect the people.,. Coming to the CNN reporter... Wilf to me is is not admirable too.. but he has done a good job... the way he discharged his duty as a jounalist deserves praise and a reward in salary.

To Corn and Ystsai,
I feel that in a disaster situation there is only so much you can do... and with such little time... What major earthquake has America had in the lower 48 since the 1811-1812 New Madrid quakes when the region was sparsely populated... Hurricane Katrina is no comparrison for the unpredictable power of major earthquakes over such large areas even though hurricanes are somewhat unpredictable. I don't want to put any country down for the awesome power or consequenses natural disasters cause... They are here to stay. No one could predict what Hurricane Katrina would end up doing nor the area of the recent earthquake in China. Just wait until the next major quake along the New Madrid or Wabash fault systems and see how little the U.S. is prepared for major earthquakes east of the Mississippi. Countries need more awareness, preparation, and the support efforts and knowledge of other nations to deal with such disasters. Preserve our seperate cultures, yet understand and teach eachother!

Natural disasters are maybe the most universal theme... They occur all over the world. Leaders make a small difference (besides how they are prepared before) in their actions compared to what awareness and preparedness the people have. Nations need to communicate and support the efforts of other countries... In giving scientific knowledge, relief efforts, and the positives and negatives of the effected country's efforts- Therefore giving all people the opportunity to escape with their lives. These countries must make their people aware of the disasters that may strike! Only if this does not happen the government is responsible. Awareness is the key!

There you go again, corn, just to prove to be corny or what? picking on one or two single words and elaborate at your own free will?

Don't forget US had some nice "admirable engineering" in certain shopping centre in Oklahoma too, that collapsed without any earthquake. But did anyone take that as evidence to criticize US construction industry as a whole?

It proves nothing except you are biased anyway.

I applaud CNN for the report from such a dangerous place. Please be safe! I also applaud the Chinese government and the army for their effort.

Thanks, marianne. I had to laugh when I re-read it.

Let's call it a "baby blue" colour.

Why is it so?

I just forgot, this is CNN!!!

Nice moderation!! You allow corn to accuse others for being nationalistic, and his spreading a specific comment on the engineering work of this draining path for the quake lake. Yet you disallow my criticism on his biasness on the collapsed schools. There was an 8.0 mega quake, and your Oklahoma shopping centre collapsed with no natural disaster or human act. Well, I can just assume that corn is from one of your internal party then.

Terry, I think the reason for the difference in colors is because of the conditions in the two lakes. The upper still gets water and mud from upstream and so the water and the soil are constantly disturbed by the current. the lower lake could be blocked somewhere downstream so there would be no drainage. since there is no water or mud flowing into it and nothing disturbs the soil on the bottom the water is clean and transparent. because of the clearness of the water the light radiated back to you is blue (that origins in certain behavior of the ray when passing to the water).
hope i answered your question

someone said the quake in china is a bad karma, maybe not, but im sure it has crossed the minds of many, a lot out there wanted to say it is

everyone shut up

OH MY GOD!!!!!!!!!!!!AFTER SO MUCH THINGS GOING ON!!!!

To Avoid Dam Collapsing – Siphon effect.

I don't know the exact circumstances of the problem. But when a dam is on the risk of collapsing, instead of trying to dig some escape from the water which seems very very dangerous and might create the collapse at any time. Have we thought about siphoning the lake, simply take a big pipe, fill it with water and block the two extremities. With an helicopter lift it over the dam, drop it slowly so you will have one extremity in the lake and the other extremity down the slope. At this point and this is quite tricky open first the extremity down the slope and after the extremity in the lake. The siphon effect will create a continuous flow of water from the lake down the slope BUT within the pipe.
To empty the lake, simply repeat the operation over and over. BUT do not create any small channel which could destroy the all dam.

There is a recent book which has been published which indicates it is quite likely that 1. The chinese discovered America and 2. That the Chinese, in the 15th centuary, sailed to Europe and exposed Europe to the science that would later become the Rennisaince. As a caucasian american, I am saddened by anything which defames a culture as amazing as that of chinese culture. I do wish China was more open with the rest of the world, and with its own people. One thing, however, which China is able to do better than the US is to mobilize for disaster. I am sure this is partly because, since most of society is under "government control", the country is able to mobilize the entirety of resources for one purpose. We lack this ability in America because we are "free". This means we are "free" not to help those in New Orleans, and the goverment is hamstrung in terms of "making" people help. Regardless, I hope that China does respect the US values, but it is ridiculous to not respect amazing Chinese values.

I do appreciate the fine points made by "David' whether I agree or not. In fact, I am happy to agree to disagree. Some mutual respect of any differences is the very basis of our common ground. But dear David, please let us put some basic facts in place so that we see more clearly the possible differences.

For instance, I am puzzled by the virutal absence of any mentioning of the simple fact that the Dalai once personally signed the order to cut off the skins of two live young Tibetan (slave) girls just to serve his religious ceremony - the signed document is still kept in the Tibetan Museum today. Accidental or deliberate?

Kulit, Why would you bring up "bad karma" again. If you and "the many " who had it "crossed your minds" had any level of education in you life should know that earth's movements has been going on throughout the life of our planet, fefore or after lives exist on its surface. They are simply part of earth's forming and reforming process. We, all lives living on the surface of earth, are affected in many different ways when the movements occure in our region. Just like those falks suffering from many different type of wind storms. What did they do so badly to deserve the "punishment" year after year? Please, be reasonable and show the human side of you. I know that you was only trying to show how much do you care about human rights, right? What about the 70,000 people who died in the disaster. What about the 5,000,000 people who lost their home because of the disaster. Besides, your hatred is based on a wrong impression about Tibet. So, pease, educate yourself before speak out. Don't let people laugh at your supidity.

I'm a Chinese. I'm just wondering why some people keep on picking up several of others' words and then start to criticize? I'm so sick. In general Chinese government has done a great job, which everyone can see. Under the circumstances of a natural disaster, every government can do something, only how well they have done matters. Speaking of Chinese government, it certainly doesn't have to do with "admirable" or not, but it is at least respectable. Just like every student has his/her potential in learning but not everyone can march to the top. So I applaud the Chinese government.

ltbriar, I am very sorry for you: you accuse CNN of not publishing you, but look, you are here (more than you would be on a Chinese blog, controlled by your admirable government!) You should apologize to CNN!

Next, you are so funny to try to justify the deaths of school children in China with the fact that somewhere, in Oklahoma, a building also collapsed... What kind of reasoning is that? Plus, why you, the Chinese bloggers keep comparing your country with the USA?

On top of everything, please stop assuming: it is bad for your health.

how does one defend the undeniable?
"schools collapsing not into blocks of floors but into broken little bricks"
when you can't cover up the bad things about your country just compare it to the worst of others,
if you take the US out of the equation, say they have the exact same disaster, will that make "collapsing deathtrap school" right?
if the dalai had ordered killing protesters in the street will you cal tiananmen a party instead of massacre?
continue defending your government and it will continue treating you as slaves

if you got anything GOOD that is REAL to show you would compare yourself to the best of other country. not to the worst that's just futile cover up

nina dear had you not been too defensive you would have seen that i did not say it is a bad karma, in fact i said it is not but it may look that way to many. i understand a basic things about geology and the quake is nobody's fault, but 40 schools collapsing cannot be blamed on nature. since it's not the builders buried and killed inside those schools i guess we could say that is not karma too.

well china its know for hidingmaway from public all the desasters and stuff like that,the only thing they display is like how many sheep did this ram mate or fake propaganda.,if they are that good on saving lives why they keep foreign media away.
weth respect of lost lives,they were only poor people of chinas rural areas so mabye they are better off now.
Look at Japnans quake 7.2 and only 6 people died.
china is rated 15 000 times below Japan.
well mr cheng still be proud to be chinese

can anyone explain to me what is bad karma because I' been hearing that a lot since the quake! is it relate to Tibet? or...

Right: Chinese government for doing a brilliant job with after-quake disaster coordination of supplies and rescuers. Not perfect, but then nothing ever is in a situation like this. Still, they've done a commendable job.

Wrong: The Burmese junta and the Bush Administration for doing absolutely NOTHING to help people in a meaningful way after Hurricanes Katrina and Nargis. It's rather sad that an American president can be compared to a third-world military dictatorship, but unfortunately the shoe fits in this case. The handling of both of those disasters was incompetent on ALL levels, and it used to be that American presidents lived by the motto: "The buck stops here". These days, however, all you have to do is throw Brownie to the wolves and you skate free of any consequences for your own responsibilities in hiring the incompentent crony in the first place.

Right: The rescuers and local people in the quake zone, as well as average Chinese people throughout the country. They have pulled together and done great things to help those stricken by this disaster. The rescuers and military have done truly Herculean efforts to save lives and prevent more suffering. Politics aside, individual heroism and good deeds should be lauded.

Wrong: The local officials in throughout China who take bribes to look the other way in regards to sub-standard construction (especially in schools). Corruption in China (and much of Asia) is a major problem, and it WILL need to be addressed if the Chinese people ever hope to improve the quality of life for ALL their citizens. The fact that corrpution and shoddy construction exists in America too does not negate the misdeeds of these people. There is a special place in Hell reserved for the makers of lead-painted toys, tainted dog food and shoddily-built schools. Anyone who took a bribe or who OFFERED the bribe to allow those crappy schools to be built should be brought up on murder charges.

Right: The people all over the world who have donated aid, money and supplies to the people suffering in China, Burma, and New Orleans (and now the Midwest too).

Wrong: Some of you people who seem more interested in pointing fingers at each other rather than lending a hand. Why not use that keyboard and mouse for something useful for a change? Navigate over to a disaster relief website like the Red Cross and donate some money.

From the accessible mass media, the various relieving measures in the wake of quake disaster being carried out by the Chinese government are generally admirable. Among others, the measure by using the anti-tank gun to remove the rocks blocked on the spillway of Quake Lakes is considered to be inappropriate, possibly dangerous. Under the shock of exploding the rocks, the landslides under such vulnerable geo-circumstances could be easily induced. Nevertheless, landslides did not occur, the exploding measures in the right wake of quake should be avoided to a maximum extent. (from Taiwan)

To copy "pugi's" style:

Wright: Yes, people should point fingers to those who do wrong things and cause death of innocent children. Yes, people must point fingers in the society too, as they do at home, when somebody does something wrong, corrective action must be taken, that is democracy, when people have voice and power. Without people in the west pointing fingers, the former USSR and communist countries will still be alive and well, that is important to remember. I wonder if "pugi" and others like her/him behave as they write here: when someone in the family does something wrong, you just turn a blind eye? That is what the "admirable government" tries to do to its people: blind them. and it seems it works, with so many positive comments, here.