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Rising from rubble

Five years on from one of the world's most destructive earthquakes - which claimed up to 90,000 lives and devastated vast swaths of Sichuan province - we revisit the disaster zone to follow its road from ruin to recovery. And after the April 20 quake in Ya'an, we find out what lessons learned from five years earlier have helped mitigate the latest disaster.

From the editor

The nation plunged into mourning five years ago when devastation struck Sichuan. Up to 90,000 lives were lost and hundreds of thousands of buildings collapsed - upending life across vast swaths of the province.

Wenchuan earthquake milestones

Museums educate, commemorate

Relics from the 2008 earthquake are exhibited throughout the disaster zone to remember the past and prepare for the future.

Midwife of new life

Wang Fang delivers hope's rebirth. The director of the family planning station in Leigu town in Beichuan county helps women who want to become pregnant after losing their children in the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake. Doctor Wang guides them past the psychological and physical barriers that make having another child difficult.

2 birthdays for joy and sorrow

I have two birthdays - one is the date celebrating my birth, and the other is May 12, in remembrance of the day I didn't die in the deadly magnitude-8 earthquake that devastated Sichuan province in 2008.

Godmother offers a guiding hand

Deng Yangqiu has turned horror into humor.

Turbine maker turns around

Editor's note: Mianzhu is less than 50 km from the Wenchuan quake's epicenter and was among the most devastated areas. This spread reveals the impact of the relocation and reconstruction of the city's major factory; the restoration of damaged archeological artifacts; and the creation of quake-forecasting stations staffed by livestock.

Squealing pigs foretell imminent danger

The pigs were screaming.

Restoring history, bit by bit

The Wenchuan earthquake created many new relics - ruins and debris since converted into memorials and museum exhibits. It destroyed many ancient artifacts, too.

Cataclysmic lessons

Mountains can be evil.