China is holding a national day of mourning for victims of the powerful earthquake in Qinghai province.

中国为青海玉树地震伤亡者举行全国哀悼日。

Near the quake's epicentre, at the town of Gyegu, the relief effort continues

Flags are flying at half mast（下半旗） across the country and public entertainment curtailed¹（简略，缩减） as a mark of respect, one week after the quake hit.

The official death toll² from the 6.9-magnitude tremor³（震动，震颤） has now reached 2,039.

Tens of thousands of people have been left homeless by the earthquake but relief supplies（救灾物资） are now pouring into worst hit area, the town of Jiegu.

Another 175 people are still missing after the earthquake and more than 12,000 are injured, the state news agency Xinhua reported.

Tibetans mourn

The BBC's Quentin Sommerville in Beijing says that, as it snowed in the provincial⁴ capital Xining, thousands of mourners dressed in black stood silently for three minutes. Car horns and sirens blared throughout the city.

Public entertainment, including some television channels, has been suspended nationwide: cinemas, karaoke（卡拉OK） bars and internet cafes are closed.

The 24-hour ban extends online, with music and film websites suspended, our correspondent says. The biggest websites and newspaper mastheads（报头） have turned black or grey for the day.

Near the quake's epicentre, at the town of Jiegu, the relief effort continues with Buddhist⁵ monks⁶ and nuns⁷ working alongside the army and other rescue workers. Ninety-seven percent of Yushu's population is ethnic⁸ Tibetan.

Some reports said officials had begun telling monks to leave the quake area and leave rescue work to the government.

'Hostile forces'

Tibetan Buddhist monks and nuns have been heavily involved in the emergency operation, digging through the rubble⁹ for survivors¹⁰ and distributing aid.

They have also been collecting bodies and holding funerals.

Rescue workers are continuing to dig through the rubble in and around Jiegu in Yushu County.

Hopes were raised by the rescue of three people on Monday who had survived nearly a week under the ruins of buildings.

A four-year-old girl and an elderly woman were rescued from a house near Jiegu and later in the day, a woman in her 30s was pulled alive from her home.

Tens of thousands are now living in temporary shelters or tents in freezing overnight temperatures.

The officials have warned that temperatures in the Himalayan plateau（高原） region are expected to fall further.

Aid has been arriving in large amounts in the region, with convoys¹¹（护送，护卫） of trucks reportedly backed up for miles along the highway from the provincial capital, Xining.

Some schools have also reopened, although where school buildings have collapsed¹² lessons have had to be held in tents.

Danzeng Jiangcuo, a maths teacher at Yushu No.3 Elementary School, said students were receiving psychological care as well as their usual lessons.

"We are trying to help them forget the disaster and not feel scared anymore," he told Xinhua.

China's President Hu Jintao, who visited Jiegu at the weekend, has promised an all-out effort to rebuild the region.