CHENGDU－After flying for five minutes over Wenchuan, Li Xiang finally found a landing place for his helicopter(直升机)on a hill near the earthquake-hit county．

　　Li, an officer of the Aviation Regiment(陆航团)of the Ghengdu Military Area Command, then made a soft landing and waited as his team got off food and medicine while the people around cried,“Thank you, soldiers!Finally, we have hope．”

　　After the quake, Li's regiment was the first to fly into the counties and towns such as Wenchuan, Maoxian, Yingxiu and Beichuan．

　　After struggling with all difficulties, the regiment provided a lifeline from the sky for the people who they would have been unable to get to in any other way．

　　At 2∶28 pm on May 12, a heavy shake woke up the pilots who were taking a rest．At 2∶48 pm, they were told to fly to the quake-hit area．And Li's regiment started the largest rescue(营救)operation in its history．

　　By Wednesday, the regiment had carried more than 304 tons of food, medicine and water．It had also flown 959 injured(受伤的)people out of the quake-hit areas and carried 1,232 rescuers and medical workers into the areas．

　　Since May 12, the regiment has made 815 flights into the quake-hit areas, with a total flying time of 758 hours．

　　The pilots also risked their lives for foreigners trapped in the high mountains for four days．On May 15, two helicopters transported 35 foreign tourists from Wolong village to Ghengdu．The tourists, mainly from the US, the UK and France, could finally put an end to their panda-viewing trip．

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