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The miraculous rise of Tangshan in the past three decades is exhilarating.
It is a miracle resulting from the combined care, love and strength of the entire nation.
People in Tangshan, with strong backing from the rest of the country, refused to desert their city, which was reduced to rubble by an earthquake measuring 7.8 on the Richter scale 30 years ago today, killing more than 240,000 people.
Tangshan, an industrial city in northeast Hebei Province, has not faded like Pompeii as some Western media predicted.
Today, it is impossible to tell that the city was once a disaster area. Neat rows of white tower blocks encircle parks with neatly manicured lawns. With their physical and psychological scars on the mend, those who survived one of the deadliest earthquakes of the 20th century are today living a much better life.
People in Tangshan did not go to pieces in the disaster. Supported by the rest of the country, they showed their strength and determination.
The Tangshan earthquake took place in an insular China whose news media did not have the ability to instantaneously bring images of faraway suffering to a nationwide audience.
This, however, did not prevent an influx of help from other parts of the country.
Doctors and soldiers were sent from all over the country. Injured residents were evacuated while temporary structures sprang up throughout the devastated city and beyond. The rest of the country sheltered thousands of orphaned children from the city.
When the city deliberated on its reconstruction, two proposals were made. One suggested abandoning the original city in order to avoid future quakes, while the other recommended rebuilding on the ruins.
The fact that the latter was chosen clearly illustrated the strong determination of the people of Tangshan. They were not prepared to give in.
The rebuilding of Tangshan began immediately after the rescuers completed their work. Some 100,000 construction workers from other parts of the country toiled around the clock to build a new Tangshan.
Though it took time, the entire city was rebuilt and is again home to over a million people, earning Tangshan the name "Brave City of China."
The city has now grown into a model of our country's resourcefulness and rebirth. Today, it is a prosperous city of broad boulevards and well-spaced, contemporary buildings. Apart from a handful of sites preserved as reminders of the quake, the city has no visible scars.
In 1990, Tangshan was awarded the United Nations Habitat Scroll of Honor and the municipal government was chosen by the United Nations as an "outstanding organization contributing to human residence" for its reconstruction efforts after the earthquake.
The city growing out of the ruins, which was the first in the country to receive this UN award, also gained the Dubai International Award for Best Practices to Improve the Living Environment in 2004.
This is something this remarkable city has every right to be proud of.
Tangshan's remarkable progress is also the best reward it could give to the millions who helped it in its hour of need.
On this 30th anniversary of the earthquake, we mourn the lost lives and applaud the Chinese people's care, love and support.
(China Daily July 28, 2006)
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