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Bhemrao Satish had been in China for only a month when his hometown was devastated by a killer tsunami.

He is a manager at Indian Kitchen, an Indian restaurant in Chaoyang District in Beijing.

His hometown in the State of Tamilnadu, had racked up a death toll of more than 8,000 people, he said. Fortunately, his family was not among the victims.

"Within one hour of the tragedy, my family reached me by phone and I've been calling them ever since," Satish, 33, said.

For Satish and other South Asians and Southeast Asians in China, "there has been a lot of praying," he said.

"We pray that more families would be spared the anguish and grief and we pray for the souls of the dead."

Since the disaster affected small and isolated coastal areas in these countries, most of the Southeast Asian residents in China were spared the agony of losing family members. Still, for them it was painful to see thousands of lives lost in their home countries.

Ani's home is two thousand kilometers from the Indonesian island of Sumatra worst affected by the tsunami. In his 20s, the chef works for Shenzhen's Bali House.

Ani said he was grateful for the Chinese people's sympathy and support for his country. He made occasional calls home to keep himself up-to-date with the situation, and appreciated the donations his Shenzhen coworkers had chipped in.

The small Indian community, of which Satish has just become a part, is more active. "We are planning a donation drive to collect some money for the victims in India," he said.

Amthan Phuphani, 55, from Thailand, works for Borom Piman, a Thai restaurant in Beijing's Holiday Inn Lido. Although his family is in northern Thailand, far from coastal Phuket, he still keeps up with the latest news from his country.

"The wife of my boss is Thai and a fellow Buddhist," he said. "She leads us in daily prayer for all the people who have suffered in the catastrophe."

He told the China Daily that his anxiety and homesickness were eased by his coworkers, and by his religious faith. There was also the knowledge that so many people in China care about the suffering of his countrymen.

"It has made me feel so much better," he said.

Editor: Catherine