08/10/29 Taoping Ancient Qiang Village: The Secret of Surviving the Wenchuan Earthquake Just like the Wenchuan Earthquake that struck southwestern China, earthquakes above a magnitude of 8 have brought destruction, pain and suffering to people in many parts of the world. Wherever they strike, they bring mass casualties and enormous loss of property. The tragic scenes reflect the almighty and intimidating power of nature. Nature, like a powerful monster can, with a slight wave of an arm, cause high-rise buildings made of reinforced concrete to collapse like toy bricks. So a humble village that has stood up to this monster could be considered an architectural miracle. Such a village exists. Its called Taoping ancient Qiang Village, and it is found in Li County, Sichuan Province. Records reveal that the ancient Qiang village has faced three major earthquakes since the beginning of the 20th century; the magnitude 7.5 Diexi earthquake in 1933, the magnitude 7.2 Songpan-Pingwu earthquake in 1976, and the magnitude 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake on May the 12th, 2008. In the Wenchuan earthquake, while Taoping survived, all the other villages in the area were reduced to rubble. Taoping ancient Qiang Village lies just 20 kilometres away from the epicenter of the Wenchuan earthquake. Yu Xingmei, a member of the Qiang ethnic group, still remembers the scene clearly. Yet the only damage suffered by the village was to the parapet wall on top of the ancient watch tower. Its collapse was due to the architectonic phenomenon known as the whipping effect, in which the part nearest to the top of a building is most likely to be destroyed during an earthquake. However, the main body of the village, and even the 2-meter-wide lanes and the underground water network, survived intact. Not one of the Qiang houses and watch towers collapsed. The first sight visitors get of Taoping Village is of three ancient Qiang watch towers standing abreast. Against the light, the three towers look like thr...