By Cui Xiaohuo (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-05-20 07:01

Yu Bohan is just five years old. But even he understood why the nation observed three minute' silence yesterday, and bowed to pay his respects to the quake victims.

People shout "Go Sichuan, go China" on Tian'anmen Square on Monday after observing three minutes' silence to mourn the quake victims. [Xinhua]

Yu was perched comfortably on his father Yu Liang's shoulders on Tian'anmen Square when the sirens went off.

"Bow to the flag, my boy," said his 36-year-old father. The small national flag in little Yu's hand was at half-mast, but it was blowing bravely in the strong south wind.

Car horns joined the sirens at 2:28 pm, the time when the deadly quake struck Sichuan province on May 12.

The entire city came to a standstill. Vehicles stopped on the way, pedestrians stood with their heads bowed, with many running out of shops and restaurants to stand together on the pavements.

And nowhere in Beijing was this scene as emotional as in the center of Tian'anmen Square. The national flag was flying at half-mast. Tears rolled down the more than 10,000 mourners' cheeks, and their voices were muffled even after the three minutes' silence.

Thirty-six soldiers guarded the national flag at the square. They raised it at exactly 4:46 am, precisely at sunrise, yesterday. As soon as it was hoisted to the top of the pole, accompanied by the national anthem, the "half-mast" order was given. It was brought exactly 10m down in absolute silence. About 2,000 people witnessed the national flag been brought down to half-mast for the first time to mourn the victims of a natural disaster.

In the afternoon crowd at the square was Bai Baolin. "I'm here, as a survivor of three major earthquakes in 1966, 1975 and 1976, to offer my blessings," he said. "They are the only things I can offer but they are the truest." Bai stood out among the crowd in his dark suit and black shoes, which he had put on to mourn the quake victims.

Tears had welled up in people's eyes while they stood in silence, their heads bowed, for three minutes. They began rolling down their cheeks as soon as the first shout of "Go Sichuan, go China" arose after the three minutes' silence.

"I had held my tears during the mourning," 22-year-old Ren Yi said. "But after that, I just couldn't control them."

And then everyone, from bosses and employees to tourists and amateur photographers joined hands and shouted" "Go Sichuan, go China".

Even a policeman on duty was seen wiping his tears from behind his sunglasses. "I can't shout with them, but this is just overwhelming," he said.

"This is really overwhelming," said Duan Jinsheng, an 83-year-old retired official. He was holding a camera in his wrinkled hands and tears in his swollen eyes.

Steven Mueller, a German tourist who recorded the scenes, said he would upload his photographs and videos online for the world to see.

The mourners were reluctant to leave, with many shouting slogans for peace and harmony for the next 30 minutes on the world's largest square.