On the eve of the 2008 Wenchuan earthquake, Lin Zhou, deputy mayor of Yingxiu Town, unexpectedly got a chance to make a comeback. Faced with only 129 days left to prepare, he decided to build a complete disaster prevention system from scratch for his hometown before a natural disaster struck.
Without funds, he would go to companies and keep talking; without policies, he would comply with regulations and adapt step by step; without technology, he would teach himself circuits and debug by himself; if the masses did not understand, he would work from house to house. From the early warning system to emergency plans, from national drills to hidden danger rectification, from popular science education to standard disposal - the six major projects were advanced simultaneously, and an invisible line of defense for life was built before the ruins arrived.
On the day of the earthquake, more than 80% of the houses in Yingxiu Town collapsed, but the death toll dropped from an estimated 3,000 to 47. Behind the miracle is not luck, but a grassroots disaster prevention system that can be replicated and promoted.
And this is just the beginning. From Yingxiu to Wenchuan, from Sichuan to the whole country, Lin Zhou built the Great Wall of Disaster Prevention all over China step by step with hard work and responsibility.
Rebirth, not for personal fame, but to protect loved ones and the common people. He proved with his actions that one person, a system and a heart for the country and the people can change the destiny of hundreds of millions of people.
