Rescue efforts greeted with gratitude

At 6 am on Wednesday, I woke up alongside hundreds of earthquake survivors near the moat of Mandalay Palace. Almost 36 hours had passed since my arrival in Myanmar, which was hit by a 7.9 magnitude earthquake on Friday.

The Chinese rescue teams were already hard at work, with generators humming and vehicles bustling. Food and water had been quietly placed outside the pitched mosquito net tents, my temporary residence, likely brought by local volunteer organizations or individual volunteers in the early hours of the day.

Across the street, a woman in her 80s lay trapped under rubble for over four days. Members of the Blue Sky Rescue Team from China have been tirelessly digging for two days and two nights in the deep hope of finding her alive. Around Tuesday midnight, I overheard them discussing their next steps.

To my left, the elderly woman's son and his family are taking refuge. Upon learning that I am a journalist from China, they kindly brought me a pillow and a blanket. As I write these words, they have even brought me hot fried dough sticks.

The powerful earthquake has sent the country reeling. As of Wednesday afternoon, more than 2,800 people were dead and over 4,600 were injured, and these figures are expected to rise. What the disaster-stricken people now face includes the loss of generational heritage and months of living in makeshift camps by the river.

Yet, as the sun rises, I see children playing, some residents washing their clothes in the river and hanging them on roadside railings, and many others still asleep. There is a rare sense of tranquility that cannot be ignored.

On this special journey, I have experienced the unwavering unity of the Chinese people, and the trust Myanmar's people have placed in China.

Upon my arrival in Myanmar with members of the Chinese Blue Sky Rescue Team on Monday, customs officials greeted us with respect and gratitude, the Blue Sky Rescue Team of Myanmar and the local chamber of commerce arranged vehicles for us, and the local telecom company provided SIM cards.

All members of the relief and rescue teams at the site have come voluntarily and have paid their own expenses. Zhang Guangrui, a Blue Sky Rescue volunteer from China, told me that upon hearing the news of the earthquake on Friday, he immediately rushed to Bangkok, the capital of Thailand, for a day of rescue work, and then flew nonstop to Myanmar.

To arrive as quickly as possible, he bought tickets for all available flight routes and finally boarded the fastest flight, making him one of the first advance team members to arrive at the disaster site on Sunday.

Local people are actively helping and expressing gratitude to the Chinese rescue teams. Anyone wearing the uniform of Blue Sky Rescue doesn't need to wait in line or even pay at the gas station, and traffic police are clearing the way for the vehicles of the Chinese teams. When rescue workers are in need of heavy machinery such as excavators, local companies are providing this equipment to the best of their abilities.

However, the Blue Sky Rescue Team is very disciplined and strictly adheres to principles. Its members have refused gifts and insist on paying all their expenses.

As relief materials and donations from China pour in and post-disaster recovery efforts gradually begin, I sincerely hope to witness more miracles of life. I also hope that Myanmar, bearing the scars of a devastating earthquake, will soon regain its beauty and overall tranquility.

Xu Nuo in Beijing contributed to this story.