Visitors bow in front of the Xuankou Middle School Memorial in Wenchuan county. (Photo: Cui Meng/GT)
This year marks the 10th anniversary of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake that rocked Southwest China's Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008, claiming more than 80,000 lives.
More visitors than usual have been seen inside the Jianchuan 512 Wenchuan Earthquake Museum in Sichuan these past few days as people from around the country have made their way to the city to take part in memorial activities.
Opened on June 12, 2008, the museum has collected more than 100,000 items related to the quake, including media reports, diaries and remains of the victims. To better visitor experience, the museum has limited ticket sales to 2,000 per day.
Museum employee Huang Yi told the Global Times that the museum, founded by entrepreneur Fan Jianchuan, aims to help the public remember the past and learn useful lessons from the dreadful tragedy.
She added that the items were collected by Fan and other volunteers.
"There were many cars destroyed during the quake that were difficult to transport back. So they removed the license plates by hand to bring them back," Huang said.
While memories of the tragedy remain, quake-stricken areas have undergone rebirth and reconstruction.
Since the Wolong Base of the China Conservation and Research Center for Giant Pandas was damaged in the quake, a new Shenshuping base has been built with the aid from the Hong Kong government. The new base is about 100 kilometers from Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, and currently has more than 50 pandas.
The town of Yingxiu, which was at the epicenter of the quake, has been rebuilt into a totally new city. However, a few remaining sites have been turned into memorials, such as the Xuankou Middle School, located at the heart of the town, which is now a public memorial and earthquake museum.
