After almost a year of construction, the museum to commemorate the May 12 Earthquake will open to the public on the eve of the disaster's first anniversary, Chongqing Evening News reports.
With 6,000 square meters of floor space, the museum has more than 30 exhibition halls, including a quake simulation room where visitors can feel the tremors and experience the destructive power of an 8.0-magnitude earthquake in mock circumstances featuring ruins and debris.
The museum, located in Dayi County, some 90 kilometers south of the quake's epicenter, Wenchuan, cost 30 million yuan, or more than 400 thousand US dollars in construction.
The wreck of an army helicopter that crashed in last year's quake relief operation and left five crew members dead is among the exhibits that include a huge number of photos, articles collected from debris and tools used by rescuers.
In addition, there are also some debated exhibits such as the glasses the 'coward teacher' Fan Meizhong wore on May 12.
Fan triggered criticism from the public after he left students behind to escape in the quake and suggested he only would sacrifice himself for his daughter.
The earthquake, the worst disaster in three decades in China, left 68,712 people dead and more than 370,000 injured. |
