The Wenchuan earthquake has a dual legacy in Yingxiu that has been set in concrete. The devastating 2008 temblor showed a disaster's ability to obliterate buildings and then a building's ability to withstand disaster. When it was rebuilt, Yingxiu became a national demonstration site for quake-resistant construction in Sichuan province.

The town's buildings were built to withstand magnitude-7 tremors before the Wenchuan quake, but the temblor that destroyed it measured 8.

Today's Yingxiu could withstand a magnitude-9 event, says Wang Jilun, an engineer for Wenchuan county's urban and rural housing construction bureau.