I left Pingwu county on Thursday with a heavy heart, having spent the night before seeking refuge from the downpour in a tent.

My thoughts were with the 31,000 children in the remote county, some 300 km from the May 12 earthquake's epicenter.

Of the 25 towns in the county, which is located in the quake zone, four had been utterly flattened, while the rest, as the locals put it, have become "debris still standing". The county has more than 400 rivers, and more than 90 percent of its land is more than 1,000 meters above sea level. The area is also sparsely populated, with around 30 people per sq km.

It was my third visit to Pingwu in 10 days. I could sense frustration and anxiety among local county officials and even soldiers trying to hasten relief and recovery work.

But progress has been slow, hampered by obstructed main roads and rain.

I've seen aid materials piled high in Mianyang and Deyang, but here in Pingwu, they remain scant. By Wednesday, only 53 tents had been airdropped into the mountainous county, where some 168,000 residents survived the quake. Some 5,000 people lost their lives or remain missing.

Local people have faced the natural disaster with courage, although they must still endure an average of at least five strong aftershocks every day. I could tell some people were starting to come to terms with the losses of their loved ones, relative and friends.

While the tears have stopped, the aftershocks haven't. As they huddle together for meals in their makeshift tents, the survivors jokingly tell one another: "Please eat more, and during this difficult time, treat every meal as if it were your last."

Aside from locals and PLA soldiers who heeded President Hu Jintao's call and braved landslides to walk to the location for rescue work, the county has yet to welcome volunteers or even journalists from outside.

Consequently, there isn't a single tent to spare - not even one to serve as a makeshift school for the local children, whose schoolhouses were either utterly razed or are unsafe.

I dearly hope Pingwu would receive more assistance, and I encourage volunteers, many of whom have little to do in major quake shelter areas where there are already too many helping hands, to venture further to remoter places such as Pingwu. Fortunately, the road there is no longer that risky to traverse.

The most remote and isolated quake-affected areas are now the places where help and love is most urgently needed. Tents are especially needed - not only for the local people but also for children who want to resume classes.

(China Daily May 31, 2008)