On May 12, 2008, the 8.0-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake caused havoc in Shifang, a city 100 km north of Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province. Hongbai Township was among the hardest hit areas in Shifang, which saw 10,000 casualties. When the earth stopped shaking, no building remained standing.

In the Central Government's post-earthquake counterpart assistance plan, Beijing was assigned to provide aid for Shifang. To get the devastated city back on its feet, Beijing is committed to completing 270 rebuilding projects in Shifang before October 2010 with an investment totaling 7 billion yuan ($1.02 billion).

A reborn township

Located 30 km north of Shifang, Hongbai Township was a hot tourist destination with picturesque mountains, rivers and valleys. But the massive earthquake ruined everything in the blink of an eye. It destroyed all the houses without mercy, reduced office buildings and hotels to rubble, and left factories in a pile of twisted steel. Worse still, the subsequent downpours made the damaged roads more muddy and susceptible to landslides.

Most victims in Hongbai Township had to stay in camps set up by volunteers from across the country. Rescuers worked around the clock searching for survivors in the rubble. Helicopters flew back and forth, carrying disaster-relief materials and injured people. The catastrophe threw the victims into deep sorrow and despair. Only the dedicated volunteers and rescuers brought them a glimmer of hope.

All of this, however, is now only a memory.

After a year and a half of reconstruction with Beijing's financial and manpower aid, Hongbai Township has taken on a dynamic new look.

The rebuilt and widened roads have reduced travel time between Hongbai Township and Chengdu from six hours to two hours. Well-designed houses have replaced piles of rubble along the roads. Residents are living in rows of newly built white buildings. Vendors selling farm produce, clothes and books are thriving in local markets. Home appliance store owners are busy introducing TVs with LCD. Young people are savoring delicious dishes and chatting with friends in restaurants. The whole township is rising from the rubble with new prosperity.

Forty-year-old Chen Jun lost five family members to the disaster, including her 13-year-old daughter. It was the aid from Beijing and support from local governments that encouraged her to live on. In March 2009, she gave birth to a healthy boy and named him Zhao Chongjian – literally meaning "reconstruction."

Two months later, her family moved into a two-story building with 110 square meters of floor space. Her husband works in a coal mine in the nearby mountains. Despite not living in plenty, they settled down in the new home with satisfaction.

"My relatives can look after my son when he is 1 year old and I will look for a job," said Chen, who looks forward to a better life in the future.

Improved life for the elderly

Another reconstruction project that was a top priority for Beijing's counterpart assistance is the Shifang Social Welfare and Aid Center in Yuanshi Township. The rebuilt center covers a 17,000-square-meter land area as well as an 8,646-square-meter built-up area.

"The houses were built with environmentally-friendly materials and designed to save energy," Liu Guide, director of the center, told Beijing Review. "They have good insulation and are fireproof and earthquake-resistant as well."

Established in May 2009, the center now provides accommodation, catering, medical and funerary services for some 230 elderly locals who have no other support. To guarantee quality services, all 36 staff members were trained by experts from Beijing's Shijingshan District Welfare Center.

The Shifang center also entertains the old by setting aside rooms for reading and playing cards and chess, as well as organizing activities like singing, dancing, seeing movies and playing sports. Additionally, it invites doctors from Shifang's major hospitals to provide medical services and psychological aid.

"Respecting and caring about the aged are virtues in Chinese culture," said Liu. "We work to help old people live in comfort, to fulfill filial duties for their children and share the government's burden of providing for the aged."

Like their peers, He Qiangui, 79, and his wife are happy with their life in the center. They are living in a 20-square-meter one-story house furnished with two single beds, a wardrobe, a table and chairs. They also have some home appliances such as a color TV set and their own bathroom. The local government pays about 2,000 yuan ($ 294) a month for both of them to live in the center because the couple lost their children to the earthquake and have no income.

In the massive reconstruction campaign, Shifang City has distinguished itself by building a welfare center for the old and taking good care of them.

"But without Beijing's helping hand, we couldn't have completed this project," Liu said. "The partner aid from Beijing not only enabled us to construct a center with good facilities, but also improved the quality of our services."