Thousands of people gathered at Tian'anmen Square and watched the national flag being hoisted to full height and then lowered to half-mast at about 5.33am.
China today mourned over 2,000 victims of last week's earthquake in the predominantly Tibetan inhabited Qinghai province with red flags flying half-mast and public entertainment suspended across the nation.
Thousands of people gathered at Tian'anmen Square and watched the national flag being hoisted to full height and then lowered to half-mast at about 5.33am.
Chinese president Hu Jintao led the mourning ceremony by paying a silent tribute in Beijing to 2,064 victims of the earthquake in northwest China.
The other eight members of the Standing Committee of the Political Bureau of the Communist Party of China Central Committee, who constitute the top governing council of the country, also joined Hu to mourn the victims.
National flags flew at half-mast at government offices and embassies in the Chinese capital and across the country and all public entertainment was suspended.
Public recreational activities, such as movies, karaoke and online entertainment services like games and music have been suspended nationwide following government orders.
Mourning ceremonies were also held in Gyegu Town of Yushu, worst affected by the the quake, and some other locations including Xining, capital of Qinghai province.
People observed three-minute silence at about 10am.
All newspapers which are state run appeared with black mast heads with line "remembering the Qinghai earthquake victims" prominently displayed on it.
Today's mourning ceremonies were the same as in 2008 when China conducted a national day of mourning during Sichuan earthquake in which 68,000 people were killed.
Considering that the 96% of the population of Qinghai province, unlike Sichuan where the victims were from majority Hans community, care was taken to show that government conducted relief operations with similar compassion and care and mourned the victims without any difference.
The 7.1-magnitude quake that struck Yushu, northwest China's Qinghai Province, last week left 2,064 dead and 175 people are still missing as of yesterday. The quake also left 12,135 injured, of whom 1,434 were in serious condition.
The national television CCTV conducted live show last night to raise funds.
"We're here to convey our condolences to all the people affected by the quake. Chinese will surely come together to overcome the difficulties," said Wang Dan, a native of Beijing.
The National Centre for the Performing Arts besides Tian'anmen Square cancelled two performances originally planned for tonight. The World Expo 2010 in Shanghai suspended all entertainment performances but the venue remained open to visitors today.
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
)
)
)
)
)
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}
){kind=small}