China 3 minutes of silence at 14:28 (06:28 GMT) for Earthquake victims

To our readers - we will be back to the business of sourcing from China and Asia later this week. Considering the tragedy, we want to share our form of silence for 3 days with no new posting to commemorate the families and individuals who lost too much. Please see our post on how you can help.

Along with the people of China, we hope you can share 3 minutes of silence this Monday the 18th of May at 14:28 (06:28 GMT) in memory and in hope for the people who suffered and passed in this tragedy.

As reported by the Associated Press (link here), China mourns today.

BEICHUAN, China - Flags flew at half-staff, public entertainment was canceled and 1.3 billion people were asked to observe three minutes of silence as China began three days of mourning Monday for the victims of the nation’s massive earthquake.

Officials asked for the horns of cars, trains and ships and air raid sirens to sound as people fell silent at 2:28 p.m. — exactly one week after the quake splintered thousands of buildings and killed an estimated 50,000 people. Chinese news portal sina.com said the government had ordered all visitors to online entertainment and game pages to be redirected to Web sites dedicated to commemorating earthquake victims.

The Olympic torch relay — a potent symbol of national pride in the countdown to August’s much anticipated Beijing games — was also suspended during the mourning period.

The national flag in Tiananmen Square, which is raised in a solemn ceremony every morning at dawn, fluttered at half staff.

To mark the mourning period, the logos of all newspapers were printed in black and the National Grand Theater canceled or postponed all performances. Trade on China’s stock and commodities exchanges will be suspended for three minutes, the Securities Regulatory Commission said on its Web site.