Learning from Sichuan's experience

Reporter's Log | Zhang Haizhou

Homes built after the 2008 wenchuan quake could set an example for Nepal

Kunda Dixit stretched out his right arm to point outside the vehicle to the narrow strip of tarmac snaking its way toward the north. The 115-kilometer-long Araniko Highway, built by China in 1965 to link Kathmandu to the China-Nepal border, is a symbol of the long friendship between the two neighbors.

Dixit, the publisher and chief editor of the Nepali Times, recalled how the road became a key trade route that benefited local communities, when I suddenly spotted rows of farmhouses scattered at the foot of the mountains.

Little did I know then that much of what I saw before me during this visit, a month before the devastating 7.9-magnitude earthquake that struck the country on April 25, would probably soon be turned into ruins.

Clad in grimy gray concrete walls, these boxy three-story buildings looked different from most of the other colorful buildings in Kathmandu. They could easily be mistaken for your average countryside houses in western China, including in my home province of Sichuan.

"They are ugly," Dixit said, half in jest, as he continued to narrate how these houses highlight China's influence along the road.

Modern buildings in China are often criticized as uniform, ugly, and even senseless, but we do have exceptions, such as Yangliu village in northern Sichuan.

Lying deep in the mountains, the village suffered heavily during the 8.1-magnitude Wenchuan earthquake on May 12, 2008. Many houses were destroyed, while others were in the path of a potential landslide.

Most of the 360 villagers were still living in tents and makeshift accommodation when I visited a few months after the disaster.

The village's reconstruction, nevertheless, made it an example for many other quake-struck areas. Nepal - which was hit by two strong quakes in April and May - may consider learning from Yangliu village's experience.

There are several crucial similarities between Nepal's quake-hit zones and Yangliu village. Both lie deep in the mountains, and both are ethnically rich. Yangliu village is inhabited by people of the Qiang ethnic group, which lives in mountainous southwestern China. The village shows that reconstruction is not just about building stronger new houses. Restoring and preserving local cultural and ethnic characteristics should also be a key purpose. The masterminds behind the village's reconstruction were Luo Jar-der, a professor at the department of sociology of Tsinghua University, and architect Hsieh Ying-Chun. Both of them are from Taiwan.

"Hsieh's style is the vernacular," Architectural Record magazine said. "He adapts local design and leans on the expertise of the area's craftspeople, but helps them reduce inefficient techniques and the use of hard-to-source materials."

Using lightweight steel frames, locally sourced stone, reinforced concrete and wood, they taught villagers how to assemble homes that are stronger than before.

The 279-square-meter, three-story dwellings employ similar floor plans: Kitchens and bedrooms for elderly relatives on the ground floor, living space and bedrooms on the second floor; and more bedrooms on the third.

Seven years after the quake, the little-known village has now become a tourist spot not merely because of its architecture, but also it gives visitors an opportunity to experience the Qiang lifestyle.

China offered assistance and aid to Nepal immediately after the first earthquake struck on April 25.

As more help can be expected in the future, hopefully we may find ways to share the experience of Yangliu village and similar expertise with the people of Nepal.

Sometimes knowledge does make a difference. I hope those farmhouses survived last month's strong quake, and I hope Dixit will find in the future that newly-built houses influenced by Chinese expertise and lifestyle are truly beautiful.

Contact the writer at zhanghaizhou@chinadaily.com.cn

(China Daily European Weekly 05/15/2015 page14)