China eView

On May 12th 2008, a devastating 8.0M earthquake occurred in Wenchuan County of Sichuan Province and killed over 68,000 people. It was the most serious earthquake that hit China since 1949. Many towns in the affected areas were completely destroyed during the earthquake and several landslide dams were formed afterward. The Chinese government spent 1 trillion Yuan on the reconstruction of the earthquake zone including Wenchuan County and Beichuan County.

There has been an enormous change after three years since the Sichuan Earthquake. Most of the ruins in the affected areas are replaced with new buildings and all the damaged nature sites are restored to normal. The life of Wenchuan residents have returned to normal and many of them are now living in the newly constructed apartments.

Ruined location of the old Beichuan County has been abandoned after the earthquake but it is now reconstructed as a brand new city in a newer location. Several museums and earthquake memorials have also been built for people to remember that horrifying disaster. One of the examples would be the ruins of Xuankou Middle School, which collapsed during the earthquake, are kept and become the Monument of Sichuan 512 Earthquake.

The Wolong Nature Reserve has been restored, as a result, giant pandas have moved back to their homeland from their temporary rehabilitation centre. Additionally the landslide dam are transforming into a level AAAA National Park of China.