New homes, new lives rise from the ruins

When President Xi Jinping visited Yingxiu township, the epicenter of the earthquake, in February, he spoke highly of the achievements made during post-disaster restoration and reconstruction. It demonstrates the strong leadership of the Communist Party of China and the superiority of the socialist system, he said.

He called for continuous efforts to promote industrial development, improve people's livelihoods and build a better community for local people.

Covering an area of about 5 square kilometers and home to 35,000 people, the new Beichuan was built from scratch about 23 kilometers southeast of the old county seat, which was severely damaged during the quake.

The old Beichuan, one of the largest areas of earthquake remains in the world, is being preserved as a site for scientists to study the impact of quakes on different kinds of buildings.

Zhang Gang, chief planner of urban-rural construction in Beichuan, said the old Beichuan county seat was built on ground with a high risk of geological disaster.

"Confined by surrounding mountains, the original site is unsuitable and impractical for reconstruction," he said. "That led to the construction of a brand-new county seat elsewhere."

Zhang said the newly built buildings will be able to hold up in various disaster conditions, with quake resistance higher than average.

Earthquake experts use a special metric to express a building's level of resistance. Normal buildings in Beichuan, such as residential apartments, have been built to withstand seismic intensity of 7 degrees, while key structures such as schools and hospitals can withstand 8 degrees of intensity.

The degrees do not equate to earthquake magnitude because there are many variables, such as distance, type of ground, depth of epicenter and other factors, but a rough rule of thumb is that a magnitude-8 earthquake would deliver a shock level of 12 degrees at the epicenter.