Several Illinois Wesleyan University students in China for a May term travel course are safe in Beijing - far from the epicenter of the earthquake, said Reenie Bradley, who works in the campus's international office. Bradley said another IWU student from Minnesota who is on a study-abroad program in Shanghai e-mailed her mother that she was safe.

Neither Illinois State University nor Heartland Community College reported having any students or employees in China at the time of the quake.

Jane Liedtke, founder of Bloomington-based Our Chinese Daughters Foundation, hadn't received word as of Monday afternoon regarding the safety of two staff tour guides living in the region hit by the earthquake.

Though OCDF tours - which draw travelers from the United States, United Kingdom and other nations - regularly include a stop in Chengdu province, "It just so happened this week, we didn't have anyone visiting there," said Liedtke.