Quake hero and survivor reunite in love

A story born from the rubble of one of China's most devastating earthquakes has reached a joyful new chapter.

Liu Ximei, 27, recently married Liang Zhibin, 39 — the soldier who rescued her as a 10-year-old from the ruins of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

Their extraordinary journey from lifesaver to life partner, spanning 17 years, has captivated Chinese social media after being shared by Rednet.cn. Hailed as a real-life fairy tale, the story had garnered 2.3 million views on Sina Weibo, with a related topic ranking among the platform's top three most-searched items.

The connection began in Qingchuan county, near the epicenter, on May 12, 2008. A magnitude-8.0 quake shattered the region, claiming nearly 70,000 lives and leaving hundreds of thousands injured or missing. Liang, then a People's Liberation Army soldier on a rescue mission, was searching through the wreckage when he carried young Liu to safety. Her most vivid memory, she says, is of his hands — covered in dirt, yet warm and safe.

Their paths diverged after the disaster, and they had no contact for more than a decade. Then, in 2020, fate intervened on a street in Changsha, Hunan province. While dining out with her parents, Liu's mother noticed a man at a nearby table and whispered that he looked like "Soldier Liang." Liu glanced over, her heart racing, and worked up the courage to approach him.

"I was so excited, and a little shy," she recalled. For Liang, recognition wasn't immediate. "She had changed too much. I completely didn't recognize her," he said.

Initially, Liang saw Liu as "a little sister who needed looking after," and the 12-year age gap felt significant. But Liu proactively shared her life and interests with him, and eventually confessed her feelings.

Both are keen to distinguish profound gratitude from lifelong love.

"If it were just about repaying a kindness, we wouldn't have come this far," Liu said. "We are together because of love."

Liang echoed the sentiment: "Saving people back then was my duty. Loving her now is from my heart. They are two completely different things."