To mark the 29th anniversary of the catastrophic Tangshan earthquake, the China Seismological Bureau has opened an earthquake educational center in Beijing, the national capital.

The playground of a local school has been turned into an emergency refuge which can accommodate more than 4,000 people. An earthquake science museum, tailored for kids, is expected to be completed by the end of August. 

On July 28, 1976, a powerful earthquake devastated the city of Tangshan, in north China's Hebei Province, and neighboring areas, killing more than 240,000 people. 

(Xinhua News Agency August 3, 2005)