One year on, life is beautiful in quake-hit Xizang

The temperatures may be plummeting to around -16 C at the foot of snowcapped mountains, but warmth is filling the rebuilt homes of people who survived last year's powerful earthquake in Shigatse, Xizang autonomous region.

Inside reinforced concrete houses in the city's Dingri county, steam rises from pots simmering on stoves as families gather for meals and some quality time. The harsh winter is no longer as daunting for them as it once was.

On Jan 7, 2025, a magnitude 6.8 earthquake rocked Dingri and its neighboring counties, killing 126 people and destroying tens of thousands of homes. One year on, survivors are rebuilding their lives, supported by large-scale government reconstruction.

Reconstruction work has covered seven counties, 47 towns and 486 villages. More than 22,000 houses have been rebuilt, spanning an area of about 3.1 million square meters, while more than 10,500 homes have been repaired and reinforced.

Phurbu Dorje, vice-mayor of Shigatse, said that reconstruction work, which started in early March, has been completed. "Residents moved into their new homes the same year they were affected by the disaster," he added.

As many of the 1,032 reconstruction sites are located in remote areas inaccessible to heavy machinery and at altitudes ranging from 4,000 to 5,300 meters, construction teams braved extreme cold, oxygen deprivation and complex geological conditions to finish their tasks.

Despite persistent rain and snow, more than 61,000 workers, supported by 2,600 construction managers and 134 enterprises, completed the housing projects in just eight months, Phurbu Dorje said.

For residents like Tashi Dondrub, the change has been life-altering. On the day of the earthquake, he was working away from home as a repairman. "I was terrified, and worried about my family," he recalled.