Newspapers nationwide are using only black ink on their front pages, and the government has announced an official mourning period of three days, including asking for three minutes of silence at 2:28 pm today.
From The China Daily:
Nation in grief as quake toll hits 32,476
China on Monday began a three-day national mourning for the tens of thousands of people killed in a powerful earthquake which struck the country’s southwest on May 12.
At 4:58 a.m., the national flag at the Tian’anmen Square in downtown Beijing flew at half-mast after a complete flag-raising ceremony.
All public amusements will be suspended for three days from Monday.
The State Council, the Cabinet, on Sunday ordered a nationwide display of respect for the dead.
China’s missions abroad were also ordered to observe the order, and condolence books are to be opened in the Foreign Ministry and Chinese embassies and consulates around the world.
The public are asked to stand in silence for three minutes from 2:28 pm on Monday, the time the deadly quake hit, while automobiles, trains, and ships would sound their air sirens.
The confirmed death toll from the disaster has risen to 32,476 by 2:00 pm Sunday, and the toll would possibly rise to more than 50,000 as many, still buried in rubbles, are feared dead.
Apparently, gaming and entertainment websites have been ordered by at least some government departments to shut down or suspend operations for the next three days. Shanghaiist has more about this including a translation of an announcement about the mourning period for websites from the the government of Hefei, capital city of Anhui Province.
Update: Athough the China Daily article was vague about what constitutes “public amusements,” other papers offer more detailed reports:
The Beijing Times reports that Beijing’s Houhai bar district will be music-free for the next three days. KTV chains Melody and Party World shut down last night. The Ministry of Culture will patrol entertainment venues to ensure compliance.
The Xiaoxiang Morning Post reports that screens at cinemas across the country will remain dark for the mourning period. The province’s television stations will replace normal broadcasts of TV series with special earthquake-related programming.
Imagethief comments:
In a period of disaster the government is naturally preoccupied with its domestic audience, as it should be. However if the entertainment and Internet blackout turns out to be comprehensive, it could end a stretch during which international press coverage of China has been largely sympathetic and positive, with much discussion of the openness (also here and here and from the Internet standpoint here) with which the quake has been covered. Exercising of government fiat over of a broad swathe of private business in the interest of enforcing a period of national mourning is the kind of thing that would remind everyone that, “Grandpa Wen” or not, the recent openness might have just been a brief honeymoon.