June 5, Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County: Dangerous buildings are brought down. To date, 36 such buildings have been demolished, paving the road for after-quake rebuilding. by Li Ziheng/Xinhua

June 8, Yingxiu Town: Life goes on. by Li Ga/Xinhua

The villagers (front) of Yuzixi, Yingxiu Town, clear ruins with rescue soldiers. by Li Ziheng/Xinhua

Before the quake struck, for more than 16 years Zhang Qiang enjoyed a peaceful and prosperous life in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province. Today, all that he worked so hard for in those years, including his two stores and two houses, is gone. Most painful, however, was the loss of his beloved son. He appreciates the support and help that has poured in from all over the world; but when he now considers what the future holds, tears well up in his eyes. “The quake lasted only ten seconds, but it destroyed everything I had.”
Yet, with the help of volunteers, donors and government at all levels, he and his fellow citizens are rebuilding.
In the immediate aftermath of the quake, Chinese people across the nation selflessly responded, contributing as much as they could, in whatever way they could, to help the survivors.
On June 1, Chinese President Hu Jintao paid a visit to the quake-hit area of Gansu Province to inspect the ongoing disaster-relief and rebuilding work. He told the people that, “The Party and the government will help the victims to rebuild their homeland.”

June 8, Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County: Volunteers play with children. by Li Ziheng/Xinhua

June 8, Yingxiu Town: Life goes on. by Li Ga/Xinhua

June 2: Households take turns cooking. by Hao Tongqian/Xinhua

On June 8, the State Council prom-ulgated the Regulation on the Post-Quake Reconstruction, offering powerful support for the reconstruction efforts.
Ordinary citizens from around the country donated large quantities of cash, food and materials. Some worked around the clock to assemble pre-manufactured housing that would be dispatched to the quake zone. Teams of medics arrived to treat survivors pulled from the rubble, and to help send the seriously injured to better-equipped hospitals in other provinces and cities. The donations have kept on coming. As the old Chinese saying goes, “When a place is in difficulty, help comes from all sides.”
The deadly earthquake also took a heavy toll on the local economy.
“There are three major losses,” explains Tan Li, secretary of the Mianyang Municipal Party Committee, Sichuan. “First, the infrastructure. Highways, roads, bridges, and reservoirs have been severely damaged. More than 80,000 kilometers of roadway has been ruined. Second, houses. The damaged houses in Mianyang cannot be measured by the unit of the ten-thousand cubic meter; rather, it should be measured by the hundred-million. Many farmers’ homes were leveled in the quake. Third, the loss of factories, enterprises, power plants, and gas companies. Mianyang’s GDP in 2007 was 80 billion yuan; but we’ve lost property worth at least 200 billion yuan.”
In this respect, the Central Govern-ment has taken measures to bolster support: 21 provinces and municipalities under the direct jurisdiction of the Central Government have been proportionally allocated to support the hardest-hit counties in Sichuan. Such an immense input of effort within such a short period of time has greatly helped the reconstruction of the stricken areas.
Mianzhu, another devastated city in Sichuan, has already drafted a general plan for its reconstruction. The goal is to bring life and production back to normal within the next three years. Under reconstruction are infrastructure, houses, schools, hospitals, and radio and television stations. Local officials say the post-disaster reconstruction plan will be jointly drawn up by the China Urban-Rural Planning and Design Institute and US-based Mckinsey & Company. The finalized plan is due to be completed by July 20, 2008.
A few companies have already restarted their business. Some of the workers at the Jiannanchun Distillery are back in their jobs, and the company says it will invest two years in restoring the factory to its original structure. Meanwhile, parts of the Dongfang Turbine Factory are back in operation. Thanks to the efforts of the local government, 258 enterprises both within and outside Sichuan have offered work to 11,000 jobless people in Mianzhu. To improve the employment situation, the municipal government has opened three tent-housed training schools teaching practical skills like welding and computer operation to rural migrant workers in Mianyang.
Local agriculture is gradually getting back on track. The local government raised funds and began to purchase spring silk worms.
Other campaigns are underway to move forward medical treatment, education, and the settlement of orphans, single seniors, and single handicapped people.
From the ruins, a new and better homeland is destined to emerge.

June 10, Jinan, capital of Shandong Province: Students of Class 1, Grade 6, from Leigu Primary School during a Chinese lesson at the Jinan Kindergarten Training School. by Lu Chuanquan/Xinhua	June 8, Yingxiu Town, Wenchuan County: Mobile classrooms under construction for the use of Yingxiu Middle School. by Yang Junjiang/Xinhua	June 2, Leigu Town, Beichuan County: Passing between the tents. by Hao Tongqian/Xinhua

June 1, Qingchuan County, Sichuan: Du Guoyou (first from left), 86, from Changping Village, Qianjin Town, talks on the phone to his son and grandson outside Qingchuan. by Song Zhenping/Xinhua	June 9, Mianzhu City: Playing in a tent-housed disaster-relief activity center. by Yang Junjiang/Xinhua