(Minghui.org) My husband and I lived in a new residential building in Dujiangyan City, Sichuan Province. On May 12, 2008, after lunch, as usual, my husband was reading on the balcony and I was doing housework. Around 2:40 p.m., I suddenly heard a roaring sound that grew louder and louder. Suddenly, the whole building began to shake horizontally and then vertically. I realized it was an earthquake, and my mind went blank.
The shaking got worse and worse. I was lifted up and landed two meters away. I got up despite the pain and tried to open the door, but no matter what, I just couldn’t twist the bolt. I was frantic.
At that critical moment, I remembered that I was a Falun Dafa practitioner. I clenched my fists and shouted with all my strength, “Falun Dafa is good! Truthfulness-Compassion-Forbearance is good!” After shouting the phrases a few times, I tried the door again and it opened!
Unable to find my husband, I quickly headed down the stairs. In a few seconds, the building started to shake again. I continued on down and left the building. I wasn’t reassured until I reached the flat ground outside the residential area.
When I eventually found my husband, I saw he was wearing shorts and no jacket—he’d left the building in too much of a hurry. He was still recovering from surgery for esophageal cancer, so I decided to go back into the building to get him some clothes and food despite the danger of aftershocks. When other evacuees saw me running towards the building, they shouted, “Don’t go in there! Stay away from buildings!” I had already made up my mind and asked Master Li (the founder of Falun Dafa) to protect me. I went into my apartment, collected clothes and necessities, and returned safely to the shelter.
I looked around at the surrounding devastation. Some buildings had collapsed while others were lopsided, their windows broken. Many people had injuries to their heads, faces, or limbs. Some sat on the ground while others were lying down, moaning in pain. I will never forgot that miserable scene.
I later learned that the Dujiangyan Farmer’s Market had collapsed, and hundreds of people were buried alive. I was in shock and realized that I was way more lucky than I thought.
The Dujiangyan Farmer’s Market was in the center of the city. It was a large indoor shopping market in a single-story brick structure. There were hundreds of vendors selling vegetables, fruit, eggs, seafood, and all kind of meat and beans. My husband and I always went there around 2 p.m. every day and would spend about an hour.
On the morning of May 12, for some reason my husband suggested that we go to the farmer’s market right after breakfast, so we went around 8 a.m. If we had followed our usual routine that day, I can’t imagine what would have happened to us. I believe Master Li was gave us a hint and helped us escape the danger.
We bought a lot of food that morning and I’d cooked a hearty lunch. When I went back into the building to pack some clothes, I also grabbed some of that food, which helped us survive the difficult days after the disaster.
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