Xie Bin, businessman, male victim, volunteer

Before the quake, Xie, of the Zhuxi Village, Yinghua Town, Shifang City, ran a nursery garden that made him a fortune. But the house that he spent a great deal of money building was razed to the ground in the quake. Fortunately no one in his family was injured.

After resettling his family in the city, Xie and his friends commuted to other places like Chengdu and Shifang, taking food, water and medicines to quake-hit victims. No wonder there was little space in Xie's van, crammed as it was with vegetables, pork, and bottled mineral water.

Xie said he would rather die on the way to provide disaster relief supplies than stay at home

Xie was, by any definition, a real quake-hit victim rather than a "volunteer" as he called himself, because the quake had left him and tens of thousands of people homeless. A friend of Xie's had a special farewell dinner in his new home -- a housing tent provided by the government -- on May 18, the day before the business trip was over. The menu consisted of nothing but cucumber, edible wild herbs, as well as cured meat and sorghum liquor they had found in the rubble.

"I ought to do something for the quake-hit areas. To be honest, I would rather die on the way to provide disaster relief supplies than stay at home," he said.

What he said probably represented the voice of the Chinese people.

The author is a staff reporter from china.org.cn, just returned from the quake zone in Sichuan Province