NEW SCHOOLS: Workers draw lines on a newly built primary school playground in Hongbai, Sichuan Province's Shifang City, on January 28, 2010. The old school was destroyed during the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake (LU PENG)

"I can't speak Cantonese, so I am saying 'thank you' with my craftwork," said Xu. She plans to present her embroidery to the Dongguan City Government in May, 2010, on the second anniversary of the earthquake.

A collective effort

The catastrophic earthquake left disaster in its wake--tens of thousands of people were killed, millions were left homeless and uncountable property was lost. But rescue and recovery came quickly to help heal the trauma.

Seven days after the earthquake, Chinese President Hu Jintao went to the affected area to inspect rescue efforts. He made a vow standing among the ruins to the country and the world that the Chinese people would not yield to any difficulty.

The country launched an unprecedented rebuilding plan to help the quake-hit region back onto its feet. On June 18, 2008, the Chinese Government issued a comprehensive plan for post-earthquake restoration where eastern and central China's 19 provinces and municipalities would support rebuilding projects in 24 counterpart counties in Sichuan, Gansu and Shaanxi provinces.

The plan stated that these regions would offer assistance with no less than 1 percent of their ordinary budget revenues from the previous year, and that support would continue to flow for three years.

To help quake victims resume their normal lives as quickly as possible, the country's top leaders said on the first anniversary of the earthquake in May 2009 that the previously announced three-year support plan would be shortened to two years.

"We work two more hours everyday, which means that kids will return to new schools several months sooner," said Zhang Tong, a project expert from the city of Zhuhai's assistance team also in Guangdong Province, which is helping to rebuild Sichuan's Mianchi.

All the rebuilding and projects in Mianchi are being run collaboratively. "We are like a family. They take us in as brothers and they are willing to take over the work which would be left for us to do by ourselves," said Mianchi Mayor Jiang Zhihui.

Wenchuan's rebuilding partner Guangdong Province has met with unprecedented economic difficulties from the 2008 global financial crisis. But the province would not alter its resolution or objectives to assist Wenchuan, as were promised by provincial Party chief Wang Yang when he visited Wenchuan in December 2009.

Statistics from the Sichuan Provincial Government show that the 19 helping provinces and municipalities have confirmed participation in 3,105 projects with an expected investment of 77.6 billion yuan ($11.4 billion). Construction had begun on 90 percent of these projects by the end of 2009 and half of the 3,105 projects had been finished.

Over the past year and a half of rebuilding, more than 3,000 new schools have been completed. At the beginning of the spring 2010 semester, all students will leave the temporary locations of their schools for brand-new campuses.

Homes for 1.26 million families have been rebuilt, allowing them to spend February's Spring Festival in their new residences.

More than 100 projects for cultural relics and historic sites are also ongoing. The Er'wang Temple in Dujiangyan City, listed as a World Cultural Heritage site, will be renovated and repaired by September 30, 2010, said Fan Tuoyu, chief of the city's bureau for preservation of cultural relics.

"In terms of the facilities they've helped us build, such as schools, libraries, hospitals and modern residences, our county has reached a level which would have taken 20 years to complete if we were by ourselves," said Qing Lidong, Secretary of the Wenchuan County Committee of the Communist Party of China.