ON THE ROAD TO WENCHUAN (SICHUAN) - SOME went in by assault boat, others by helicopter. The elite ones took the risky move of parachuting straight into a debris-filled disaster zone.

Most, however, travelled the old-fashioned way: on foot.

Taking advantage of a break in the rainy weather yesterday, rescue teams from the Chinese military and armed police made a major push for Wenchuan county, the epicentre of the powerful earthquake that struck south-western China on Monday.

Officials would not allow me to board the assault boats bound for Wenchuan, but the trek was enough to give anyone a sense of the difficulty in delivering aid to the distressed population of about 116,000 that had been all but cut off from the outside world.

Monday's 7.9-magnitude earthquake not only shut down all power and telecommunication links to Wenchuan, but also destroyed the main 7m-wide road leading to the county, famed for its natural beauty.

Bad weather also prevented the authorities from flying into the region or airdropping emergency aid for the survivors.

A group of about 300 soldiers successfully trekked to Yingxiu town, part of Wenchuan, to begin rescue operations on Tuesday afternoon. However, they did not appear to have reached the heart of the county.

But when the incessant rain pelting the earthquake-hit region in Sichuan province finally stopped yesterday morning, the rescue teams swung into action.

Dujiangyan city, a main staging ground for the rescuers, was a hive of activity when I arrived at about 8.15am. Helicopters buzzed overhead while buses and trucks carrying soldiers from the People's Liberation Army and the People's Armed Police rolled past and headed towards Wenchuan.

A police checkpoint at the edge of Dujiangyan, however, prevented me from following the convoy in my cab. As I walked briskly towards the slow moving convoy, I found that several dozens more Chinese civilians were making the same journey on foot.

Those whom I chatted with said they were aiming to reach Wenchuan on foot, a 120km trek which could take them a day or two. Several others even had plans to reach villages well beyond Wenchuan.

Odd-job labourer Yu You-ping, 36, spoke for many when he said: 'I have not heard a single word from my family in Wenchuan since the earthquake struck. If I have to walk three or four days to see them again, so be it.'

The trek to Wenchuan snaked through large swathes of the picturesque countryside, though anyone whose thoughts were lost in sightseeing easily got the occasional jolt back to reality - literally.

As I was about to cross an old bridge unused by vehicles for years, a minor tremor shook the area, causing the bridge to sway gently. The rescue teams backed away for a few minutes and proceeded again after no further tremors were felt.

My journey ended at 11.35am when I reached the Zipingpu dam, where the rescue teams boarded assault boats headed for Wenchuan.

I could only follow on foot by trekking another 60km to 80km up the mountainous paths leading to Wenchuan: a daunting option considering that I had brought only camera equipment along, not food or water.

Today, I am planning to make another attempt, this time on a bicycle.

Meanwhile, four reporters with the official Xinhua news agency who had travelled in a Chinese military helicopter reached Wenchuan at about the same time that I left the dam.

One of them was quoted as saying: 'The quake damage in the county was not as serious as we expected. Most of the buildings did not collapse. But people are badly in need of drugs and food.'

The situation in Yingxiu, however, was much grimmer. Xinhua said that 70 to 80 per cent of the buildings had toppled, while less than a quarter of the town's 10,000 population had survived the quake.

But military helicopters managed to deliver at least nine tonnes of emergency relief to Wenchuan yesterday, including satellite communication systems, medicines and quilts. Some of the injured were also airlifted out.

As I backtracked and returned to Dujiangyan city, residents along this initial route to Wenchuan complained that they had not received a single iota of emergency aid, an irony considering that the main cavalry had just passed them by.

Said Mr Yang Hongquan, 26: 'My family and I are just left with the clothes we are wearing. We are running out of water and food and no one has sent us anything.

'I know the troops are bound for more seriously affected areas. But we are victims too.'

chinhon@sph.com.sg