Flags were also to be lowered at Chinese embassies and consulates worldwide as the government remembered victims of the 6.9 magnitude earthquake in northwestern China a week ago that left at least 2,064 people dead.

Qinghai held a province-wide three minutes of silence at 10:00 am (0200 GMT). Chinese President Hu Jintao also paid silent tribute to victims of the quake, the official Xinhua news agency said.

"In solidarity with the people," read a front-page headline in the People's Daily, the ruling Communist Party's print mouthpiece, while the English language China Daily's website banner read "Sharing sorrow, moving forward."

Another 175 people are still missing following the quake, which also left more than 12,000 injured. Snow and freezing night-time temperatures have added to the misery of survivors camping outside.

The quake caused thousands of mainly mudbrick and wooden homes to collapse in the Yushu region of Qinghai, a rugged area populated by ethnic Tibetans.

Aid and relief personnel have began pouring into the disaster area on the Tibetan plateau at an altitude of around 4,000 metres (over 13,000 feet) after delays that officials blamed on its remote location.

Rescuers are still sifting through rubble in the town of Jiegu, the disaster zone's main population centre, but the bad weather has hindered relief efforts and slowed traffic and delivery of desperately needed supplies.

Snow and rain were forecast in Qinghai on Wednesday following a hail storm that pelted relief workers the day before. Altitude sickness also has taken a toll on many of the newly arrived rescuers.

In the main square of provincial capital Xining, thousands of military personnel, officials, students and citizens mostly clad in black stood in rows, their heads bowed under a light snowfall as sirens and car horns blared, state television showed.

Grim-faced anchors delivered emotional remembrances of the victims as state television devoted its coverage to the mourning.

"Yushu, your suffering is our suffering. Your mourning is our mourning," a woman anchor intoned.

In central Beijing, authorities lowered the national flag to half-mast at Tiananmen Square.

All major state-run newspapers and their online versions carried blackened mastheads bearing headlines urging readers to mourn the dead, while the websites of some government departments also were stripped of colour.

Entertainment activities have been ordered suspended, shutting down movie theatres, professional football matches, certain television programmes and some activities related to the Shanghai Expo 2010, media reports said.

Foreign entertainment-related television channels such as HBO and ESPN had their programmes blocked in China, replaced by a notice on a black background saying it was due to quake mourning.

International news channels such as CNN and the BBC remained unblocked.

The difficulties faced by the government's relief operation have left the area's many Tibetan Buddhist monks with a prominent role in rescue efforts, and providing relief to homeless victims.

However, more than 12,700 soldiers and paramilitary police were now taking part in rescue work, a military official said Tuesday.

Two Tibetan women and a four-year-old girl were pulled out of the rubble on Monday, more than five days after the quake.

State television said Tuesday workers had found signs of life in the ruins, but no rescues were reported. Disaster experts say the odds of finding more survivors drop off sharply after the first three days.

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