As he walks alone with a bandaged head and arm outside Nanhe Stadium, a temporary center for quake survivors, Wang Qingzhou appears fairly relaxed.

He looks like a different man from the one who managed to get out of Beichuan two days ago, his native county where most of the buildings collapsed and many people were killed in Monday's disaster.

Wang managed to pull himself out of a collapsed four-story building, in which he lived on the top floor, and where his younger sister remained buried.

"I was hit on the head with a large brick and I needed 20 stitches," he told China Daily.

"I couldn't take off my shirt when I first went to the clinic as it was caked in blood."

Liu Jinhua sits with her 8-month-old baby in their makeshift home at Mianzhu City Stadium, Deyang, Sichuan province. The stadium is being used as a temporary shelter for thousands of quake survivors.

The 34-year-old was chatting with his younger sister when the quake hit. He ran to the washroom to hide.

"A few loud bangs, and everything was gone I cried for help for half an hour, but no one was around," he said.

"My sister was crying for help, but I couldn't help her until I get myself out of the debris," Wang said.

When he finally did get out, Wang still was unable to save his sister because he was bleeding so much.

"My wife is still somewhere in Beichuan. She's about five months pregnant," he said with a blank look.

"And my parents are trapped on the mountains on the outskirts of town."

But Wang's 10-year-old son survived the quake and is now in Jiuzhou Stadium, another center for survivors in Mianyang. Wang was transferred to Nanhe on Thursday.