3 Years after the Wenchuan Earthquake, Recovery Efforts are Paying off

Three years ago, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake jolted 1 southwest China's Sichuan province and killed an estimated 69-thousand people.

The tremor 2 could be felt as far as Japan and the Philippines.

Beichuan County was one of the worst-hit areas, with more than 8-thousand people dead.

As the saying goes, time heals all wounds. Three years on, life there is finally getting back to normal and possibly even better than before.

Shen Chengcheng reports.

 

A small town in northwest Sichuan, Beichuan was a popular tourist spot known for beautiful mountains, rivers and the ethnic 3 Qiang culture.

However, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake changed all that.

"Beichuan county is located at the mountainous area, and is prone 4 to earthquakes. In fact, the whole county was toppled during the disaster."

That's He Jiyu, head of the local Tourism Bureau. He says Beichuan is the only county that had to be rebuilt at a different location.

"Because of the severe damage, the State Council asked the local government to move the town to a new place. It has taken two difficult years to rebuild the new county."

Last October, the newly-built Beichuan county was put into use. It is 23 kilometers from the old one.

On top of that, the Qiang culture is prominently featured in the new county.

One-tenth of the Qiang people lost their lives in the earthquake, so the preservation 5 of the Qiang culture was high on the government's agenda in the aftermath of the quake.

To that end, the protection of the ancient Qiang painted furniture was listed as one of the revitalization projects of the Qiang culture.

Because of its popularity, the shops selling such furniture have been given a first-class spot on the main commercial street in the new Beichuan county.

Zhu Hongzhi and his wife own one of such shops.

Zhu says he opened the shop to let more people know about the culture of Qiang people.

"Lots of tourists would come to this street every day, they buy our painted aritfacts and take them out of Beichuan, to the entire world, so that more people will get to know our Qiang culture."

Apart from the ancient culture, the new Beichuan county is also a place with modern elements.

Head of the local Tourism Bureau He Jiyu says, the idea is to turn the new Beichuan into a tourist attraction with international standards.

"The top designers in China did a fine job, incorporating some scientific and modern ideas into the reconstruction 6 project. Thanks to their efforts, the new county is a great place to travel and live in."

One example is the Ba Na Qia commercial street.

It has nearly all the functions you can find in a street located in big cities like Beijing and Shanghai. Shopping, dining, hanging out, you name it.

And besides the hustle 7 and bustle 8, local residents have also been enjoying their lives in the new comfy communities.

Wang Li and her family have just moved in a newly-built community. She says it is only a 5-minute walk to the nearest park.

"Our 3-member family lives in a 113-square-meter apartment now. And the neighbourhood is great. With all the trees and flowers, it's like living in a park."

Like Wang Li, students from the Beichuan Middle School are also basking 9 in happiness, a sharp contrast to the picture three years ago.

Nearly half of the students and teachers lost their lives in the quake back then.

It was one of the saddest memories in the school's history.

Thanks to donors 10 all over the world, students have been able to have classes in their brand-new school for a year now.

60-year-old Mr. Cai is a Chinese-Canadian. He donated money to the rebuilding project.

"Chinese immigrants in Canada have donated a lot of money for the reconstuction work after the Wenchuan earthquake. And we've also got the help from the Canadian government, who doubled the money we raised."

Three years after the earthquake, people in Beichuan have shown great resilience and have started to get back on their feet.

As He Jiyu, Head of the local Tourism Bureau says, people in Beichuan will never forget all those helping 11 hands during the tough times.

"We have received a lot of help from people in China and all over the world. We'll never forget that. Life is now getting better, so we hope our friends who have supported us can come to Beichuan."

For CRI, I'm Shen Chengcheng.