Greatest lesson in their lives

One minute and 36 seconds after the first tremors of the earthquake hit Sichuan province on May 12, more than 2,200 students and 100 teachers of the province's Sangzao Middle School in Anxian county, Mianyang city, evacuated the school buildings and gathered at its playground.

Not a single person was hurt.

When the quake hit, the school's headmaster, Ye Zhiping, was in Mianyang. He rushed to the school on hearing of the disaster and found parts of the eight classroom buildings collapsed.