LAST Monday afternoon, China stood still. Heads bowed, hats in hands, soldiers balanced on the rubble of a town destroyed by an earthquake. Across the country, the 1.3 billion people stopped at 2:28 pm — the exact time the 8.0 Richter scale earthquake took place two weeks ago. Three minutes of silence were kept to mourn (哀悼) for those who died in the quake. As many as 55,740 people were confirmed dead and 24,960 people were missing by last Friday.