The movers and shakers of 2008

13 chivalrous men from Tangshan who helped save 25 survivors of the May 12 Sichuan earthquake and also joined relief efforts in snow-hit Chenzhou of Hunan province in February;

Wu Wenbin, 26, a young soldier who died from exhaustion while helping with earthquake relief efforts;

Jing Dazhong, 44 (pictured left), county magistrate of Beichuan who organized some 8,000 survivors to help themselves and didn't have time to save his six family members;

Li Long, 31, a firefighter who risked his life to dig out 57 earthquake survivors;

Zhang Yimou and his team for the Olympics ceremonies that showcased the charm of Chinese culture to the world;

Jin Jing (picutred right), a wheelchair-bound torchbearer who defended the Olympic flame from assaults in Paris;

Ji Ji, a Tibetan torchbearer who took the Olympic flame to the world's highest place;

Zhai Zhigang, Liu Boming and Jing Haipeng, Shenzhou VII astronauts who realized the dream of spacewalk for China;

Li Guilin and his wife Lu Jianfen, who have been teaching in an elementary school hanging from a cliff for 18 years;

Han Huimin, a resident of Suzhou, Jiangsu province, who has been taking care of his paralyzed girlfriend for 34 years;

Special Award for the entire Chinese nation, which showed determination, courage and wisdom in the face of disasters as well as victories.

(China Daily 02/09/2009 page8)