REPAYING A DEBT AT CLINIC THAT SAVED HER LEGS

Heng Yonghong, 27, a survivor of the devastating magnitude 8 earthquake that struck Wenchuan, Sichuan province, on May 12, 2008, now works in the accounts department of the medical center where she was treated after the disaster.

"My job is to organize the receipts. It may sound boring to many people, but I really like it," she said, with a big smile. "Just being alive is the happiest thing for me," she said, referring to the earthquake that left about 80,000 people dead or missing.

Heng, who has a younger brother, was born into a poor farming family in Beichuan, a county in the southwestern province.