Tsunami

"Pray for Japan” is a group of approximately 20 people from the International School of Beijing who are associated with Japan in various ways.  Shortly after the earthquake, five ISB high school students organized events at the school to raise awareness for the earthquake/tsunami victims.  They asked the entire school to observe a moment of silence and to participate in folding paper cranes, symbolizing a wish for recovery in the country (In Japan, it is believed that if a person folds 1,000 paper cranes, his or her wish will come true.).  Mothers of these students were moved by their gesture and decided to do something themselves to help.  After discovering there were many people who felt the same way, they all put their thoughts into action and created “Pray for Japan.”

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The conditions of Japan's nuclear crisis keeps changing by the hour, and despite assurances that there is no imminent danger of radiation blowing China's way, Beijingers aren't taking any chances. The New York Times reports on a mad-grab for iodized salt over the last couple of days:

"...panicked residents combed pharmacies in a mostly vain search for potassium iodine tablets. The tablets are believed to decrease the risk of developing thyroid cancer from nuclear radiation, but few Chinese pharmacies carry them, although health officials said the government has a stockpile for emergency distribution. A clerk at one downtown Beijing pharmacy said more than 20 people had asked for the tablets in the past two days."

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Olivia Lee (a.k.a. The Nutritioneer) and Dr Richard have both shared an illustrated map from Der Speigel showing a "time lapse time-lapse of the Japanese radiation exposure headed mostly east, over the Pacific, and not westerly towards China."

The People's Daily has also run a report claiming that "no abnormalities have been found in China radiation monitoring."

For now, at least , it seems Beijingers can exhale and stop clutching their iodine bottles.

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Last week’s devastating earthquake and tsunami in Japan has hit close to home in many, many ways. Here are some more ways to help from Beijing:

Online donations can be made via Chinapay to the Red Cross Society of China by visiting the English language page and filling out the form.

You can also wire money from the post office located in Beixinqiao in Dongcheng District (东城区北新桥三条八号) using the customer account number (客户号) 111119995.

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