Dujiangyan is about 100 kilometers away from the epicenter, Wenchuan County, while Wolong is only about 30 km from Wenchuan.

The centuries-old Dujiangyan Irrigation System also suffered damages but is still operational. In Wolong, the quake left five workers of the nature reserve dead, two pandas injured and six pandas missing -- five of them returned and workers were still looking for the other one.

Market confidence called for

The latest government statistics show the death toll from the devastating quake had increased by about 400 to 68,516 as of Thursday noon. Another 365,399 were injured and 19,350 others missing.

Tens of thousands of tourists from home and abroad were evacuated from quake-hit zones in Sichuan, and no foreigners died in the evacuation.

But tourists have been discouraged by the powerful quake and thousands of aftershocks and dare not travel to Sichuan for now.

A stockaded village of the Qiang ethnic group before the earthquake

Actually, local tourism authorities have banned the entry of all tourist groups for the sake of safety.

"It was our prime time last May, usually a peak season for tourism. But this year, the situation is very bad," said Huang Hai, manager of the West Holiday Travel Service in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan Province.

At the Jiuzhai Paradise Hotel near the well-known Jiuzhaigou Valley Scenic and Historic Interest Area, also a site on the World Heritage List, more than 1,000 rooms have been left vacant after the quake, said Deng Hong, the hotel board chairman.

"Tourists had to book rooms at least five days in advance in May last year," he said.