In response to a mandate by the State Council of the People's Republic of China ordering all online entertainment and game pages to redirect visitors to web sites commemorating last week's earthquake victims, several China-based MMO operators have announced that they will be suspending services for their games during the country's three days of mourning, May 19 to May 21.

The mourning period comes one week after an 8.0-magnitude earthquake devastated China's Sichuan Province, leaving an estimated 50,000 dead and over 245,000 injured. China's government has pulled all entertainment programs off television for the three-day period, ordering cinemas and other public entertainment venues to close their doors to customers until Wednesday. Additionally, national flags are flying half-mast across the country and the Beijing Olympic torch relay will be temporarily suspended.

World of Warcraft operator The9 Limited has announced that it is suspending operations of all its games for the three days to honor the tragedy's victims, as have several other China-based MMO operators, such as Giant Interactive (ZT Online), Sohu.com (Tian Long Ba Bu), and Perfect World (Legend of Martial Arts). All aforementioned services will resume on May 22nd.

The period marks the first time China has undertaken a national period of grieving other than for a national leader. The last time the country observed a mourning period of this length was in 1976 with the death of former Communist Party chairman Mao Zedong.