From the Notebook of the Sichuan China Traveler. Not so at the Sichuan Opera where a fire-breathing performer made for a dramatic backdrop to a quick-change artist, who managed to change mask and costume as fast as it took to swipe a huge fan in front of him.

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Wednesday, May 28, 2008. Grief Turns to Fury in China. Raw public outbursts have been taking place across northern Sichuan Province as grieving parents have been loudly calling for investigations into why so many school buildings collapsed during the May 12 earthquake, killing an estimated 10,000 children. During a march on Sunday, a protester waved a picture of one of the 127 children who died at the Fuxin No. 2 Primary School in Mianzhu.