The Ruins of a Magnitude 7.8 Earthquake in China

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On July 28, 1976, an earthquake of magnitude 7.8 on the Richter scale hit the northern Chinese city of Tangshan in Hebei province. It was one of the deadliest earthquakes in human history. The death toll exceeded 240,000 people. 7000 families were completely eradicated. The city of Tangshan is only 40 minutes away by high-speed rail and I knew it was time to show you guys this. I travelled to Tangshan in search of this memorial that was built to commemorate the lives lost and damage done by this earthquake.

Walls were erected to write the names of those that lost their lives on this tragic event. Additionally, some of the ruins have been preserved in this memorial so that people could see the extent of the damage done by a single earthquake. It was able to completely destroy a city within minutes.
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The energy of this place was pretty intense. I couldn't help but feel grieved by what I was seeing even though it happened a few decades ago and prior to coming to China, I never even heard about this event.

The memorial is completely free of charge and the next thing I saw after seeing the walls of each person's name were a collection of statues that showed a multitude of different feelings such as sadness, strength, hopelessness and fear. Behind the statues was a depiction of rubble and collapsed structures that lay above them.
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This just goes to show how power nature is. Some people think that we will one day become more powerful and smarter than nature. I call BS on that. It is nature that even allows you to think that thought in the first place. Would you be able to imagine anything if nature decided to kill the neurons in your head? Would your intelligence be where it is without your nervous system? Your choice to move your hand or breathe are not your choices at all. It is only your body that was programmed the way it is that gives you the freedom to do such a thing; not your free will. Everything you think, do and feel is because of nature; not because of you.

This section of the memorial is separated by an artificial river. Once I made my way over to this section, I took a good look at all the faces that I could see. These statues represented a lot. You could see the pain and hopelessness in the child statues and the faces of resilience in others. When destruction comes, the only thing you can do is start the recreation process.

This memorial really gets you thinking about human suffering. Is there a way to never suffer anymore? Everyone is pursuing what they want in different ways, but it seems that the end of suffering comes when you surrender to your utter powerlessness and realize that you don't have control over your life. We can all take actions to better our lives, but there is no guarantee that it will lead to something fulfilling.

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Beneath the water of the artificial river, I saw a railway that seems to be another artifact of the earthquake. Instead of removing it from the river, they kept it there and the water could flow around it.

The furthest point of the memorial was where the ruins were. They preserved the remnants of the factory that was destroyed and only the pillars and some towers were left standing. It's crazy to just the the frame of the building, but everything else was broken into pieces. I'm glad they preserved this because it is such a significant part of history. Fortunately, our buildings have been engineered to withstand earthquakes a lot more effectively so that mass casualties like this don't happen anymore.

On the opposing sides of the rubble were towers. I am not sure what these were for, but they seem to be the most intact structures on the whole site. They don't stand straight anymore because the earthquake caused them to become unleveled with the ground, but at least they still maintained some integrity.

Right Tower

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Left Tower

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I was also able to see the rear end of the structure. I wish I could get up close, but there were barriers set in place so that people wouldn't trespass on the site for obvious reasons. I just had a slight desire to hop over and actually touch what was left of these structures.

My last view of this site was from the side. I felt so excited to shoot photos and videos of this place. I knew a lot of people would be fascinated by the place. In China, a lot of people think Tangshan is a boring city. I really disagree with that opinion after coming here. The dialect that people speak here is pretty strange and unique and it is a big enough city to have all the modern amenities. Tangshan is an incredibly industrial city due to its coal reserves. The only problem I see with this city is the pollution tends to be quite high. Fortunately, I went during a time where it was clear blue skies and fresh air. This last photo I took of the side was my farewell. After taking this photo, I thought that was the end of this trip.

But I was in luck...

They actually have a museum as well! The museum was free of charge and I could get an even better idea of the artifacts that were preserved during this time. Lillian and I were happy to find out about the museum and immediately advanced to the gate after leaving the outside memorial.

The museum has walls of memorabilia and art that depicted the earthquake and there were many personal items that were restored and encased in glass boxes to be put on display. I got to see items such as clocks, sewing machines and telephones that existed during this time.
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There were also wax figures that showcased how people lived after this catastrophe. During this time, it seemed like everyone united to help each other. In other words, everyone because a great big family because they could all empathize with the struggle that each and everyone of them were going through. Families cooked food outside and prepared what they could so that they could share with others. Tragedies can be horrific, but they do have a way of bringing people together. It is a very common phenomena where the collective suffering and pain of people actually unites them and brings them closer than they have ever been. People seem to drop their defenses and barriers towards each other and put the past behind them. Being in the situation they are currently in leaves no room for grudges and separation.

It seems to me that animosity occurs the most when we are taking things for granted. When we are in pain, we have no choice but to show our vulnerabilities and need for unconditional love. Sometimes we use animosity to protect us when other things in our life seem stable enough. But once that stability and fear of death arrives, we can't hold onto any of that anymore. We reveal how sensitive and fragile we really are. We can't afford to stay closed off, but instead show that we are in pain and need support.

It is amazing how this city was able to completely rebuild itself literally from the ground up. After the earthquake, the Chinese military and aid came to the rescue to help those in need. The people in Tangshan are proud of what they have accomplished. It isn't an easy feat to do. I feel grateful of the support that was given to all the people that needed it in this city. I feel fortunate that I did not have to suffer from this catastrophe. I feel lucky that this city is not far from where I live in China.

I will probably make many more trips to Tangshan in the future just to hang out. It does have a lot to offer but you need to know where to look for it. I think a lot of people are just used to saying cities like Shanghai are interesting and Tangshan is boring because that is what they have been hearing and they repeat it like a parrot.

This memorial is actually outside of the downtown core. In order to stress the importance of this event, they have actually constructed another memorial right in the downtown core of the city.

Final Remarks

How you ever heard of Tangshan before? Well, now you have! I know most people only know about Beijing and Shanghai, but there are plenty of big and developed cities that most people don't even know about. I'm sure most people don't know China's history very well, and whatever history you do know might be coming from biased sources.

This city is only an hour away from Beijing by high speed rail. This memorial alone makes the city worth a visit. The people here are very curious about foreigners. I got more attention here than I normally get in Qinhuangdao even though it is a smaller city. The people here don't seem to be used to foreigners like they are in Beijing or Shanghai.

Hope you all enjoyed reading this post and watching the video. It was my pleasure to write all of this up and I had so much to say about this earthquake.