Throughout the day, they gathered in front of constantly updated name lists of new arrivals at this large stadium in southwest Sichuan province, pining for news of family lost for four days. Most were disappointed.

"I'm looking for six family members. My mother is one of them," said Liao Xinggu, a 48-year-old teacher, whose home in nearby Beichuan city was razed by Monday's quake. "To be honest, I don't think there's much hope."

Like Liao, most people in the stadium were from Beichuan, one of the most severely affected communities in the 7.9-magnitude quake.

They were shipped in on trucks and in buses and asked to find a spot for themselves. Some slept on top of treadmills, others inside boxing rings.

Covered in blankets, there was every age -- from babies to octogenarians -- as each family tried to make a home here. But the question many asked was, how do you make a home with one or several members missing?

"My nephew was killed when his school building collapsed," said Xie Jiazhou, a woman aged 21.

Her brother, the 12-year-old boy's father, works in Macau, and she was given the painful job of telling him the news by telephone.

Xie and her elderly parents, all moved to tears when talking about their nephew, were staying outside the stadium for the third consecutive day, since all the indoor space had been taken up by other survivors.

"After the first night out in the open, we woke up completely soaked by the dew," Xie said.

Donations were pouring in, mostly second-hand clothes, which were sorted and thrown onto lorries for disinfection.

"No one told me to do this," said one of the volunteers handling the clothes, Zhang Zhijian, an English major from Mianyang Technical University. "I didn't need to be encouraged. We're all Chinese."

Volunteer teams, many of them medical professionals, came from as far away as east China's Anhui province, hundreds of kilometres away. Everyone, from specialists to people who were homeless themselves, was asked to contribute the skills they have.

"We need three people with journalistic background. Three people with journalistic background, please come to the information centre," a voice said repeatedly over the announcement system.

"I feel the government is doing what it can. The problem is its resources are limited," said Liao, the teacher.

Food was handed out with the routine of a nation used to managing large crowds of people. People lined up in orderly rows to get their portions from huge containers of steamed buns and tea.

"The biggest challenge here is the logistics. We have to ensure that there's enough water, enough food, medicine, tents," said Wang Cunjiang, an official at the "command centre" set up at the stadium.

Another challenge, he said, was the impatience of people now so desperate for information about missing relatives that they were willing to go back into the quake zone to look for themselves.

"Some people here want to return to Beichuan to help in the rescue effort, but we can't let them. It isn't safe, and the job must be left for the soldiers," Liao said.

Outside the stadium, a playground was filled with children, some laughing, others sitting quietly in the swings.

"At least it's better here than staying in Beichuan," said Chen Yan, a 28-year-old worker at a tea company.

"Not a single member of my family was hurt in the quake. I feel lucky," she said.

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