People in China are marking the first anniversary of the Sichuan earthquake in which more than 85,000 people died, including at least 5,300 children.
Mourners are visiting ruins and graves, lighting incense to comfort the dead, BBC reported.
Chinese President Hu Jintao is in Sichuan for the anniversary and is expected to attend a ceremony at what was the epicentre of the quake.
On the eve of the anniversary, President Hu said the disaster had galvanised the Chinese nation.
He also praised the reconstruction effort, which is due to finish a full year ahead of schedule.
"Confronted with this immense disaster, the masses of Chinese people and military were as one, forming a fortress of unified resolve," Mr Hu said, according to the state-run Xinhua news agency.
In Beichuan, a town which was completely wiped out by the quake and is usually barred to the public, both locals and tourists poured into the area to mark the anniversary.
They lit candles and incense, as well as ritual paper money, to remember their loved ones who died when the entire town was destroyed.
"I feel the earthquake isn't over yet. Every time I see something about it, I feel like crying," Zhou Ya, a 20-year-old woman who lost several family members in Beichuan told reporters.
China has been widely praised for its rapid response to the Sichuan quake. But there are concerns that many of the parents of children who died when shoddy school buildings collapsed have been harassed - and even attacked and imprisoned - by officials determined to keep them quiet.