Courage, dignity heal scars of Tangshan quake

Born in an emergency medical team's field tent just two hours after the devastating 1976 Tangshan earthquake struck, Yang Zhensheng's destiny was bound to the tragedy.

His parents named him Zhensheng, which literally means "born after the earthquake", and in 2001, he started working at the Tangshan Paraplegic Rehabilitation Center.

For a quarter of a century, Yang has witnessed the courage and determination that have enabled the survivors to endure.

"When the rehabilitation center first opened, many residents had lost not only the use of their legs, but also the courage to live," said Yang, who is now the center's director.

"We soon realized that treating injuries alone was not enough," he said. "Before helping them recover physically, we had to help them regain the confidence to live."

The 7.8-magnitude earthquake that struck Tangshan, an industrial city in North China's Hebei province, on July 28 at 3:42 am, claimed more than 240,000 lives, injured over 160,000 people and left 3,817 survivors paralyzed.

As the survivors grow older, many are confronted with the combined challenges of disability and aging, posing a new test for the support system.

Gao Qingfeng, 69, is among the more than 130 paraplegic survivors of the Tangshan earthquake who still live at the rehabilitation center.

After being pulled from the rubble and sent to Beijing for treatment as a 19-year-old, he was told by the doctors that there was a chance he might walk again. He had faith, and took his physiotherapy seriously, but never walked again.

"The hardest time was right after the earthquake," Gao recalled. "I didn't even know what paraplegia was. I never imagined I would spend the rest of my life this way."

However, what eventually changed him was not a medical breakthrough.

"When I moved into the rehabilitation center in 1981 and saw so many people living the same life, I no longer felt I was facing it alone," he said. "We trained together, lived together and encouraged one another. Their companionship helped me gradually accept reality."

Sitting on his electric mobility tricycle during an afternoon rehabilitation session recently, he practiced shoulder and hand exercises alongside fellow residents under the guidance of therapists. It's a routine that has become part of his daily life in recent years.

During a visit to the rehabilitation center in July 2016, President Xi Jinping encouraged its residents by saying: "If people in sound physical condition can live fulfilling lives, people with disabilities can do so as well."

Authorities established a network of 18 specialized rehabilitation centers for paraplegic survivors across Tangshan. The Tangshan Paraplegic Rehabilitation Center, the largest one, has become the cornerstone of a long-term care system that has supported survivors for half a century.

Over the decades, Gao has learned to play the zhongruan, a lute-like traditional Chinese instrument, and joined the center's band, which once performed in Beijing alongside professional musicians. Today, music, Chinese chess, cards and reading the news fill much of his day. "Life goes on," Gao said quietly.

Beneath the shade of a tree inside the center, 77-year-old Yu Zhong sits chatting with three longtime companions.

Smiling, he said he had never imagined he would live for half a century. He has also learned to play the zhongruan.

His son visits every week, and both his son and grandson have served in the military — something he speaks of with quiet pride.

New person emerges

Li Dongmei remembers little about the day the earthquake struck.

She was 13 when the disaster left her a paraplegic. Li also suffered a brain trauma injury and did not regain consciousness until more than a month later.

In 1984, she learned about China's first National Games for Persons with Disabilities. "It was as if I suddenly saw hope again," she recalled.

She wrote down an aphorism that has stayed with her ever since: "If the earthquake reshaped me into another person, then I will stand in this world again as that new person."

Li trained for wheelchair racing by wearing gloves and wrapping black tape around the push rims of her racing wheelchair to improve her grip. Within days, both her hands were covered in blisters that later hardened into thick calluses.

Three years later, she earned a place on Hebei's team for the second National Games for Persons with Disabilities, launching a sporting career that spanned decades. "It was hard," she recalled. "But it was worth it for my dream."

Over the following decades, Li won dozens of medals in domestic and international competitions. More importantly, she said, the rehabilitation center gave her a new direction in life. "It was the place where my dream took root," she said.

Li said President Xi's encouragement during his visit to the center inspired her to keep striving. Two years later, at 55, she returned to competition and won three gold medals at the Hebei Provincial Games for Persons with Disabilities.

Now retired from competition, she spends much of her time learning sign language and Tangshan shadow carving, and helps promote local intangible cultural heritage.

"I may no longer compete," she said. "But I can still live my life in another way."