Students from three severely-shattered townships chorus with students from Beijing, capital of China, and Chengdu, capital of southwest China's Sichuan Province, via video link during a ceremony marking the new semester at a temporary site in Dingri County, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region, March 5, 2025. Two months after a 6.8-magnitude earthquake hit Dingri County, home to the northern base camp of the world's highest peak, Mount Qomolangma, thousands of children were able to return to class to start the new semester, as builders raced against time in conducting reconstruction work. Students from the 79 schools affected by the earthquake resumed classes as scheduled on Wednesday, together with all other students in the city of Xigaze, southwest China's Xizang Autonomous Region. These 79 schools in the county suffered various degrees of damage during the quake, which claimed 126 lives back in January. Among these, 76 schools have met safety standards after being repaired and reinforced. Meanwhile, a trio of primary schools in three severely-shattered townships in Dingri require complete reconstruction. These schools transferred 1,479 students to four other sites for the start of the new semester this week. (Xinhua/Jiang Fan)