This Day, That Year

Editor's note: This year marks the 70th anniversary of the founding of New China.

On Nov 13, 1990, Tangshan, Hebei province, was awarded a United Nations Habitat Scroll of Honor and the municipal government was chosen by the UN as an "outstanding organization contributing to human residence" for its reconstruction efforts after the Tangshan earthquake of 1976.

The quake demolished 97 percent of the city's buildings and killed more than 242,000 people when it occurred on July 28, 1976. The rebuilding of Tangshan was basically complete in 1986, as seen in this item from China Daily, and the city started to witness rapid economic growth.