Beijing  - A German journalist was picked up by police Friday while talking to families of the victims of May's earthquake in the southern Chinese province of Sichuan and ordered out of the quake zone.

"I was instructed that I'm not allowed to be here," Henrik Bork, a correspondent for the Munich-based Sueddeutsche Zeitung, said by telephone from Yingxiu, which was destroyed by the May 12 quake.

At the time of his detention, Bork said, he was visiting the city's cemetery, which was crowded with visitors preparing for China's traditional day of mourning, and was talking with families who included those of children and teachers who died in schools that collapsed in the quake because of shoddy construction blamed on corruption.

"That is exactly the research that they want to prevent," said Bork, who was the first foreign journalist to visit quake-hit villages near the epicentre last year after walking for a day to reach them. At that time, he was also initially held for several hours by the military.

He said authorities told him journalists were not allowed in Yingxiu because the roads leading to it were "too dangerous" and it also lies in the Tibetan-populated prefecture of Aba.

More than 80,000 people were killed in last year's magnitude-7.9 earthquake, and the fact that many of the victims were children who died in poorly built schools remains a sensitive topic.

Several people are believed to have been detained for alleging that corruption was behind the collapse of the schools, including local activist Tan Zuoren, who was arrested in late March and accused of "inciting subversion of state power," human rights groups said.

The first anniversary of the quake is coming shortly after China observes Saturday's Tomb Sweeping Festival, the day Chinese tend to the graves of loved ones and honour their ancestors. (dpa)