"Loyal" husband´s motorbike, runaway teacher´s glasses, Pig Strong on display in China´s quake museum

Source: Xinhua | 05-12-2009 11:10

CHENGDU, May 12 (Xinhua) -- A museum on last year's May 12 earthquake, the deadliest that hit China in decades, has been opened in the southwestern province of Sichuan while the nation is marking the anniversary of the disaster.

The Wenchuan Earthquake Museum, located in Dayi County of Chengdu, capital of Sichuan, displays more than 50,000 objects discovered in the ruins in quake zones and collected from rescuers.

"The quake is a trauma of the nation. We can not face the future if we can not face the past," said curator Fan Jianchuan on Tuesday.

"I hope the museum can serve as an alarm bell to tell people never to relax their alert against natural disasters," Fan said.

The debris of a military helicopter which crashed during an rescue operation is exhibited in the museum. It is the first time that the public will see it, according to Fan.

Heavy machines, vehicles, parachutes, assault boats and fire engines used in rescue operations are also on display.

Visitors can also see the motorbike used by a controversial husband to carry the body of his wife home after the quake. The man, Wu Jiafang, was acclaimed as a "most loyal husband" after a picture photographing him tied with a woman's body on his motorbike stirred a sensation on the Internet.