By Eugene Tang and William Bi May 17 (Bloomberg) - Chinese President Hu Jintao, in his first visit to the mountainous Sichuan earthquake zone, said rescue workers must ``race against time'' as hope fades for thousands buried in the wreckage of the May 12 disaster.
Hu flew yesterday to Mianyang city, about 1,500 kilometers (932 miles) southwest of Beijing, to talk to soldiers and rescue workers and to console survivors, state-run Xinhua News Agency said. The death toll from the 7.9 earthquake, the most powerful to hit China in more than half a century, climbed past 22,000 and may reach 50,000 with 159,000 injured, Xinhua reported.
e than 4.7 million houses were leveled

by Xinhua writers Lou Chen and Zhang Lina BEICHUAN, Sichuan, May 16 (Xinhua) -- Sweating away amid the stench of death with no food for more than 20 hours,

By Daniel Schearf China reported progress with its earthquake relief efforts, but survivors showed frustration with the government's response.

John Bell, right, has not heard from his wife, left, and stepdaughter, centre, since an earthquake hit China on Monday, near where the two are living.