A Chinese man grieves in the rubble in the town of Beichuan on Tuesday, one year after the deadly quake hit the area in southwestern China's Sichuan province. (Ng Han Guan/Associated Press)China commemorated the first anniversary of last year's devastating Sichuan earthquake on Tuesday, as many of the hardest hit areas still struggle to rebuild.

The magnitude-7.9 temblor — the deadliest earthquake to hit China in decades — toppled villages and razed portions of Sichuan and two neighbouring provinces, leaving nearly 90,000 people dead or missing. Another five million were left homeless.

President Hu Jintao led commemorations in the quake zone at the epicentre of the quake in Yingxiu. He led the nation in a moment of silence at 2:28 p.m., when the quake had struck.

"Gradually, the reconstruction efforts have had important results, and the people in the disaster-hit areas are striding toward a new life," Hu said in a speech.

"Confronted with this immense disaster, the masses of Chinese people and military were as one, forming a fortress of unified resolve."

In front of the crumbled remains of a middle school in nearby Beichuan, mourners piled flowers and burned candles and incense sticks amid the smoke and crackle of exploding firecrackers.

Grief and anger

Amid them, Jin Dalan and her husband Chen Guanghui, 47, burned paper money as an offering to their 17-year-old son who was crushed in the school collapse.

"I'm just trying to talk to him to ask why he doesn't visit me in my dreams. I just want to know that he's OK and that no one is bullying him," said Jin, 45.

Like many parents of dead students, Chen said he was bitter about the government's treatment of his family, citing claims that school's were inherently unsafe.

"Of course I'm angry. The school was badly built. Nothing else around here collapsed," Chen, 47, said.

Last year's destruction triggered an outpouring of grief around China and united the country in a massive rescue effort boosted by volunteers, private donations, and international aid.

While the government continues to fund reconstruction, the devastation to the local economy and the fallout from the global economic crisis has cast long-term doubts on whether the region will ever fully recover.

Parents critical

The most politically incendiary issue, however, remains the issue of school safety amid allegations that corruption and mismanagement led to shoddy construction.

Parents have tried to sue or petition local and central authorities, but many have been detained or warned against speaking out. Activists and lawyers who have tried to help them have met the same fate and reporters visiting the area have been detained, harassed and physically threatened.

So volatile is the issue that until last week, the government had refused to release an official tally of students who died, saying the task was complicated and time-consuming.

That figure, released in an apparent response to public pressure, showed 5,335 students were killed in the quake, although parents and activists say the number is too low.

So far, no one has been punished or held responsible over the schools, and officials insist that they have not found evidence so far of shoddy construction — a claim questioned by experts and parents alike.