At14:28:04onMay12,2008,an8.0-magnitudeearthquakerockedWenchuanCountyinsouthwesternChina’sSichuanProvince,shakingmountainsandtopplingbuildings.Nearly70,000peoplelosttheirlivesandmillionslosttheirhomes.Thedisasterwasthemostdestructiveearthquakesince1949andthedeadliestquakesincethe1976Tangshanearthquake.
Adecadelater,thedeeppainhasbeennumbedbytheyears,butthewarm,swiftsupportreceivednotonlyfromacrossChina,butfromaroundtheworld,remainscementedintheheartsofmanypeople.
Recently,ChinaPictorialreportersvisitedQingchuanCountyinGuangyuanCity,BeichuanCountyinMianyangCityandMianzhuinDeyangCity,andWenchuanCountyintheAbaTibetanandQiangAutonomousPrefecture,allinSichuanProvince,todocumentthelivesoflocalpeopletoday.
Thereportersmetcountlesspeoplewhoexperiencedtheearthquake,butwhenrecountingthepast,manystressedsimilarsentiments:“accepthelp,learnhowtobethankfulandgivebacktosociety.”
1InYingxiuTown,WenchuanCountyoftheAwbaTibetanandQiangAutonomousPrefectureinSichuanProvince,afamilyfromQinghaiProvinceposesforapictureinfrontofthesiteofXuankouMiddleSchool.Behindthemarethehugewhiteclocksculptureandtheruinsofthecollapsedbuilding.The“clock”pointsatthemomentwhentheearthquakestruck.
2ThereconstructedYingxiuTownaftertheWenchuanEarthquakeintegratesthearchitecturalfeaturesoftheTibetan,YiandHanethnicgroups.Tenyearsago,Yingxiuwastheepicenterandthehardest-hitareaintheearthquake.Today,ithasbecomeamodelforpost-earthquakereconstructioninWenchuanCounty.
3YangYungang(2ndright),ownerofBo’ai(UniversalLove)NewVillageRestaurantinYingxiuTown,WenchuanCounty,andhisfamily.Tenyearsago,YangwasworkingasadrivinginstructorandhiswifecookedatYingxiuPrimarySchool.Theearthquakedemolishedtheirhome,andbothlosttheirjobs.Fortunately,theydidn’tloseanyfamilymembers.Tenyearslater,Yang’schildrenaremarriedandhavetheirownchildren:Thefamilyoffivehasexpandedto11.Yangopenedarestaurantthankstothegovernment’ssupportivepolicies.Nowbusinessisboomingsomuchthatthefamilyhiredsevennewemployees.Duringpeakseason,dailyrevenuesoftherestaurantexceed10,000yuan.Lastyear,itearnedanetprofitofover100,000yuan.4StudentsatBayi(August1)ElementarySchoolinShuimoTown,WenchuanCountyreadytogohomeafterschool.Thecentury-oldschoolwasreconstructedwiththeaidfromtheSecondArtilleryCorpsoftheChinesePeople’sLiberationArmyaftertheMay12earthquake.ItevolvedfromtheChuxiuAcademy,whichwasfoundedin1828,the8thyearofEmperorDaoguang’sreignoftheQingDynasty(1644-1911).Itwasoneofthetoughestreconstructionprojectsduetoitsgeographicallocationrightattheepicenter.Afterreconstruction,thenewschoolcovers34,000squaremeters,withtotalfloorspaceof17,800squaremeters.
5LiuHongshu(3rdright)runsafarmhouserestaurantonBailonghuHappyIslandinQingchuanCounty,GuangyuanCity.Whenthedisasterstruck,Liuwasworkingelsewhere,butherhousewasdestroyed.Today,herfamilyrunsarestaurantfeaturingruralflavors,whichbringsanetprofitof140,000yuanannually.“Thegovernmentinvitedacheftogiveusvocationaltraining,”Liureveals.“Nowmyson-in-lawservesasthechefinmyrestaurant.”
6AmotherworksatafunguscultivationbaseinQingchuanCounty,GuangyuanCity.Theagriculture-orientedcountysufferedheavylossesintheearthquake10yearsagobutisnowbackontrackaftercompletereconstruction.Itsadvantageousnaturalenvironmentandlarge-scalebreedingindustryhavehastenedthedevelopmentofecologicalagriculturewhichhasinturnacceleratedimprovementsinlocalfarmers’livingstandards.
7SuoGuifang(right)withhermotheranddaughterinfrontoftheirnewhouseinZaoshuVillage,HuangpingTownshipofQingchuanCounty,GuangyuanCity.In2009,Suoopenedafarmhouserestaurant,whichhasbecomethemainsourceofincomeforherfamily.“Ifnotfortheearthquake,wemightstillbeworkingfarawayinmajorcities,”saysSuo.“Buttheearthquakemadeusrealizethatthemostimportantthingwecoulddoistostaywithourfamily.”
8LiCheng,headofKongxiTeaPlantationinQingchuanCounty,GuangyuanCity.Accordingtohim,assistancefromZhejiangProvinceenabledhisteaplantationtohelpmorethan1,200farmersgraspskillsthathavelifted173familiesoutofpoverty.Bytheendof2017,QingchuanCounty’steaplantationbasecovered18,200hectares,involving32townshipsand31,100households,benefitingnearly125,000people.ThedevelopmentofteaplantationhasinjectedvigorandvitalityintotheeconomicgrowthofQingchuan.
9ZuoQin,whowasburiedinrubblefor72hoursduringtheWenchuanEarthquake,presentsflowersatamemorialinBeichuanQiangAutonomousCounty,MianyangCity.“OnMay12everyyear,Igetuncomfortableanditfeelslikeyesterday,”Zuogaspswhilerecallingthedayoftheearthquake10yearsago.“It’sstillscaryjustthinkingaboutit.Iwassoluckytosurvive.”
10HeJiang(right)andhisfatherHeSanmaointhecarshoptheyowninBeichuanQiangAutonomousCounty,MianyangCity.HeJiang,now26,wasthenastudentwhosurvivedbyclimbingoutoftheruinsofBeichuanHighSchool.Hesufferedafracturedclavicle.Duetotheearthquake,thefamily’smotorcycleshopsufferedheavylosses.Today,withsupportfromthegovernment’stwoyearinterest-freestartuploan,HeJiangandhisfatherarebackintheautotrade.Hewasemotionalwhentracingthepsychologicalprocessofrecoveringfromtheinjuryaftertheearthquake:“Infaceofanaturalcatastrophe,humansareweak.BecauseofthisIdeeplyfeelhowimportantitisforpeopletohelpeachother.Sincetheearthquake,Ihavebeendevotedtopublicwelfarecauses.WhenIhavemorepower,Iwilldomore.IfIdon’thavemuchstrength,Iwilldoless.Nevertheless,Iwillstilldosomething.”
11YongchangPrimarySchoolinBeichuanQiangAutonomousCountywasreconstructedwiththeaidfromZiboCity,ShandongProvince,becomingthefirstrestoredprimaryschoolaftertheearthquakeinthecounty.ItsreconstructionstartedonDecember21,2009andcompletedonJuly21,2010.Today,theschoolhasateachingbuilding,adormitory,astudentcafeteriaanda2,000-seatstadium.
12AwallpaintingprovidesanenchantingbackgroundforvisitorstoPenghuaVillage,ZundaoTown,MianzhuCity.ThevillageisfamousforproducingMianzhuNewYearpictures,whichhaveplayedacentralroleinfuelingthedevelopmentoflocaltourism.Manyfarmershaveopenedfarmhouserestaurants.
13NewYearpicturesarefeaturedinembroideriesfromPenghuaVillageinZundaoTown,MianzhuCity.Tenyearsago,theearthquakecausedseveredamagetothevillage—98percentofitshouseswererazed,andlocalruraltourismsufferedheavylosses.May2009sawthecompletionoftheNewYearPictureTrainingCenter,thefirstpost-quakeculturalindustryprojecttobeputintooperationinSichuanProvince.