About 90 percent of Yushu residents are Tibetan and almost all are devout Buddhists.

"A lot of the quake victims don't speak Mandarin, making it almost impossible for us to communicate," Shen said. "Fortunately, many teenagers offered to translate."

Meanwhile, Guo Yanqing said Tibetan traditions should be respected when providing counseling to avoid inflicting further harm. "I heard in one case some doctors in Xining insisted that an injured old lady transported from the quake zone should wash her hair, but she refused," he said.

"As it turned out, it's a local tradition that when someone dies, his or her family members cannot wash their hair for the next 49 days, nor wear new clothes. Otherwise they believe the deceased won't be blessed after death," Guo said.