15 years on, Wenchuan survivors helping others in need

Like most Beichuan residents, he usually avoids going to the former location of the county seat. But once a year, just before the anniversary of the earthquake, he pays the ruins a visit to mourn classmates, friends and loved ones.

The moment his car reaches the road leading into the former town, Zheng turns the music off. "It's so sad to see the Beichuan where my friends and I had so much fun, in ruins," he said, adding that his home is now submerged beneath a lake created by the quake. "For visitors, it's a tourist site but for us, it's packed with grief."

He normally lays flowers on a green behind the remains of a building marked with the date of the earthquake. Many people are buried under the green because it was impossible to transport bodies out at the time, as roads were severely damaged.

Behind it, there is a flag post and a basketball stand. They are all that remains of Maoba Middle School, which was crushed beneath huge boulders that tumbled down from the mountains during the 80-second quake, burying students and teachers inside.

For the past fifteen years, Cheng Xingfeng, mother of a missing 16-year-old student at the school, has been putting up banners in front of its remains that express how much she misses her son. She includes her cellphone number on the banners, just in case her son didn't die, and comes back to the town one day. They have brought tears to the eyes of many visitors.

"Look how many layers of banners there are now. It will only get thicker," Zheng said.

Meanwhile, the former site of Beichuan Middle School, where Zheng was rescued, has been used to build a memorial museum. "I often have dreams in which my classmates say they are tired of traveling, so they have come back to see me. I really like those dreams because they give me the chance to see my friends again."

Zheng now runs an orchard and plans to sell his fruits online. He said he is living a happy life because he is regularly able to see his parents and girlfriend, who he plans to marry at the end of the year. Business is looking good, too. "I don't want to dwell on the past. Instead, I want to become stronger because of the quake. I believe my friends who lost their lives would want to see me living life to the full," he said.

Unlike Beichuan, Yingxiu township in Wenchuan county and the epicenter of the quake, was rebuilt at its original location, but residents say that only a few hundred meters of the road are as they were before the devastating event, which destroyed over 80 percent of the buildings and killed 5,462 people.