Wenchuan Earthquake: 10 years on

Hu Yijing China Plus Published: 2018-05-12 08:43:52
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Yang Weihua

Wenchuan Earthquake: 10 years on

Photo at the top shows photographer Yang Weihua in the hard-hit town of Beichuan in Sichuan Province in 2008. Photo at the bottom shows Yang's son holding a photo of his deceased father in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, on Saturday, February 28, 2015. [Photo: China Plus]

Yang Weihua, a former journalist at a local newspaper in Mianyang, Sichuan Province, drove to the hard-hit town of Beichuan on the evening after the earthquake, despite the risks caused by aftershocks and landslides.

On the morning of May 13, 2008, the photographer found three-year-old Lang Zheng buried in rubble after he heard the child crying. 

Yang called for help before joining in on the rescue. He captured on film the moment the kid saluted the soldiers who pulled him out of the rubble and said "Thank you, uncles!"

Wenchuan Earthquake: 10 years on

The well-known "Saluting Boy" photo taken by Yang Weihua in Beichuan Town, Sichuan Province, on Tuesday, May 13, 2008. [File Photo: IC]

The photo won the hearts of millions. It also brought Yang together with the family of the rescued boy. 

Yang took many photos of the young man, and Lang often took pictures using Yang's camera. 

"Their relationship has gone beyond interviews, they are just like relatives," Yang Bo, the son of Yang Weihua, told journalists with thepaper.cn.

Wenchuan Earthquake: 10 years on

Yang Weihua takes a photo with the "Saluting Boy" Lang Zheng. [File Photo: IC]

According to Yang Bo, his father was diagnosed with liver cancer in October 2013, and passed away two years later at the age of 51. Lang Zheng visited his elder friend when the photographer was in hospital, and came to say goodbye at his funeral.

Wenchuan Earthquake: 10 years on

Photo taken on Saturday, February 28, 2015 shows the funeral of photographer Yang Weihua in Mianyang, Sichuan Province. [File Photo: youth.cn]

"After Yang Weihua died of liver cancer in February 2015, we have taken my son to visit his tomb every year," Lang Zheng's father told China Daily in 2017.

Wenchuan Earthquake: 10 years on

Yang Weihua takes a photo with the "Saluting Boy" Lang Zheng. [File Photo: CCTV]

Yang Bo says that before his father became too ill to continue working, he spent six years following up the stories of the post-quake relief and reconstruction work. 

In tens of thousands of photos, the photographer recorded the lives of many survivors, and the emergence of a new town out of the ruins of Beichuan.

"My father has recorded a period of history," said the son of the photographer. 

Being a witness to such a catastrophe took a toll on the photographer, not only physically, but also mentally. 

"My father told me that once in a while, when he was alone at home, he would feel that there are people crying out for help beneath him. And it's been a long time since the earthquake," said Yang Bo.

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