collapsed buildings, broken water pipes, yawning holes in the ground, corpses everywhere, lying on the ground, hanging over roof beams and out of houses. A pall of dust and smoke was rising. There was no sun or moon, nobody knew what time it was. We wondered if we were still in the land of the living.’
I encouraged Mrs Yang to have a drink of water.
‘Water? Ah, yes . . . I’m not sure how long it took, but I began to feel thirsty because I had shouted my throat raw. Someone echoed my thoughts in a weak voice, “Water . . .” reminding everyone to turn to the immediate matter of survival. A middle-aged man stepped out of the crowd, and said, “If we want to live, we must help each other and get organised.” We murmured in agreement.
‘It was starting to get light, and everything before us became more distinct, and more horrible. Suddenly someone shouted, “Look over there, someone’s alive!” In the wan light, we saw a girl wedged in mid-air between the ruined walls of two buildings. Although her hair hung over her face, and her lower body was trapped and hidden from view, I knew from the colour and style of her bra, and from the struggling movement of her torso that she was my daughter. “Xiao Ping!” I shouted. I called her name over and over again, wild with joy and grief. She continued writhing desperately, and I realised that she could not hear or see me. I pushed my way forward through the crowd, gesturing towards her and sobbing hoarsely that she was my daughter. Rubble blocked my path. People started to help, trying to scale the wall my daughter was trapped in, but it was at least two storeys high, and they had no tools. I shouted Xiao Ping’s name over and over again. She still had not heard me.
‘A few women, then some men joined in shouting to help me. Soon, almost everyone was calling, “Xiao Ping! Xiao Ping!”
‘Xiao Ping finally heard us. She raised her head, and used her free hand – her left – to push her hair off her face. I knew she was looking for me. She looked confused; she couldn’t find me in the crowd of naked or near-naked bodies. A man next to me started pushing everyone around me aside. None of us understood what he was doing at first, but soon it became clear that he was trying to clear a big space around me so Xiao Ping could see me. It worked; Xiao Ping shouted “Mama!” and waved to me with her free hand.
‘I shouted back, but my voice was hoarse and faint. I raised my arms and waved to her instead. I don’t know how long we spent calling and waving. Finally, somebody made me sit down. A big empty space was still left around me, so Xiao Ping could see me. She was tired too, her head was lolling and she was gasping for breath. In retrospect, I wonder why she never screamed for me to save her. She never said anything like “Mama, save me”, not a word.’
‘When did you start counting the fourteen days and two hours you spoke of?’
‘Someone shouted to Xiao Ping, “It’s 5.30 in the morning, there’ll be someone coming to rescue you soon!” He wanted to comfort her, to help her hold on. But seconds, minutes and hours passed, and nobody had come to the rescue.’
‘That was because it took time for people to find out what had happened,’ I said, remembering how long it had taken for a news report to appear.
Mrs Yang nodded. ‘What kind of a country was this in 1976? A big city lay in ruins and three hundred thousand people had died, yet no one knew. How backward China was! I think that if we had been more advanced, many people might not have died. Xiao Ping might have survived.’
‘When did the rescuers arrive?’
‘I can’t say for sure. I can only remember that the army came first. The soldiers were all sweaty from running, but not one paused for breath before they split up and went to the rescue. Equipped with ropes and pitons, two soldiers started to climb up the wall in which Xiao Ping was trapped. It looked like it might collapse at
I encouraged Mrs Yang to have a drink of water.
‘Water? Ah, yes . . . I’m not sure how long it took, but I began to feel thirsty because I had shouted my throat raw. Someone echoed my thoughts in a weak voice, “Water . . .” reminding everyone to turn to the immediate matter of survival. A middle-aged man stepped out of the crowd, and said, “If we want to live, we must help each other and get organised.” We murmured in agreement.
‘It was starting to get light, and everything before us became more distinct, and more horrible. Suddenly someone shouted, “Look over there, someone’s alive!” In the wan light, we saw a girl wedged in mid-air between the ruined walls of two buildings. Although her hair hung over her face, and her lower body was trapped and hidden from view, I knew from the colour and style of her bra, and from the struggling movement of her torso that she was my daughter. “Xiao Ping!” I shouted. I called her name over and over again, wild with joy and grief. She continued writhing desperately, and I realised that she could not hear or see me. I pushed my way forward through the crowd, gesturing towards her and sobbing hoarsely that she was my daughter. Rubble blocked my path. People started to help, trying to scale the wall my daughter was trapped in, but it was at least two storeys high, and they had no tools. I shouted Xiao Ping’s name over and over again. She still had not heard me.
‘A few women, then some men joined in shouting to help me. Soon, almost everyone was calling, “Xiao Ping! Xiao Ping!”
‘Xiao Ping finally heard us. She raised her head, and used her free hand – her left – to push her hair off her face. I knew she was looking for me. She looked confused; she couldn’t find me in the crowd of naked or near-naked bodies. A man next to me started pushing everyone around me aside. None of us understood what he was doing at first, but soon it became clear that he was trying to clear a big space around me so Xiao Ping could see me. It worked; Xiao Ping shouted “Mama!” and waved to me with her free hand.
‘I shouted back, but my voice was hoarse and faint. I raised my arms and waved to her instead. I don’t know how long we spent calling and waving. Finally, somebody made me sit down. A big empty space was still left around me, so Xiao Ping could see me. She was tired too, her head was lolling and she was gasping for breath. In retrospect, I wonder why she never screamed for me to save her. She never said anything like “Mama, save me”, not a word.’
‘When did you start counting the fourteen days and two hours you spoke of?’
‘Someone shouted to Xiao Ping, “It’s 5.30 in the morning, there’ll be someone coming to rescue you soon!” He wanted to comfort her, to help her hold on. But seconds, minutes and hours passed, and nobody had come to the rescue.’
‘That was because it took time for people to find out what had happened,’ I said, remembering how long it had taken for a news report to appear.
Mrs Yang nodded. ‘What kind of a country was this in 1976? A big city lay in ruins and three hundred thousand people had died, yet no one knew. How backward China was! I think that if we had been more advanced, many people might not have died. Xiao Ping might have survived.’
‘When did the rescuers arrive?’
‘I can’t say for sure. I can only remember that the army came first. The soldiers were all sweaty from running, but not one paused for breath before they split up and went to the rescue. Equipped with ropes and pitons, two soldiers started to climb up the wall in which Xiao Ping was trapped. It looked like it might collapse at
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