In May of this year a series of events near Mianyang City China lead to the miraculous survival of all 483 students of Liu Han Elementary School during the devastating earthquakes.  It began, ten years ago when an anonymous contractor fought vigorously for the donated funds to be properly allocated.  Mr. X, as he is called in the article, oversaw the construction of the school diligently making changes such as round pebbles instead of flat, and properly mixed cement in order to insure the safety of the building.  After having the donated funds stolen by government officials twice, Mr. X convinced the officials to allow for an additional playground field that had not been part of the original plans.

It was in this field that the teachers of Liu Han Elementary gathered all of the students on May 12th when the earthquake hit this village community.  As if all 483 students surviving wasn’t enough of a miracle the stories of this truly bless community continues.  After most of the students had been reunited with their families, several teachers and 70 students embarked on a two-day journey over three mountains, the largest of which was over 6,500 feet tall, to Mianyang City.  The teachers and students survived the two-day hike with only a few bottles of water, and two packages of crackers.  In the end after loosing shoes, and facing treacherous cliffs and crevasses all 70 students, including a 4yrs. old child, made it to Mianyang City safely where they received the aid and shelter needed.

This article is truly amazing, it is translated and therefore a little choppy, but is still a wonderful story worth reading.
http://chinadigitaltimes.net/2008/05/li-chengpeng-the-true-story-of-the-miracle-survival-of-the-students-and-teachers-1/