Society
Rebuilding still on Sichuan quake anniversary
(Xinhua)
Updated: 2010-05-12 22:02
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CHENGDU - Wang Chengwu nestles on the sofa in his cosy new home in Beichuan County and watches TV with his 12-year-old daughter.
A hole about the size of a fist in the TV is the only reminder of the massive earthquake that rocked his home province of Sichuan and left some 87,000 people dead or missing exactly two years ago. "Miraculously, the TV still works."
In his Qiang ethnic village in Leigu Township alone, 69 of its 71 homes were destroyed and 26 people were killed.
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Wang's new two-story house with floor space of 180 square meters has Internet access and is supplied with gas.
"Our living conditions have advanced at least 20 years," he said.
Young villagers who used to work in cities as migrants have returned home to run restaurants and stores selling ethnic Qiang-style embroidery work and other souvenirs amid a post-quake tourism boom.
But even for Wang, whose six-member family remained intact, the second anniversary of the Wenchuan quake still brings sad memories of the past and his friends and relatives that died in the quake.
"You know what grief is all about only after you've lived through a disaster like that," he said.
Huge crowds of people arrived at the old county seat of Beichuan, which was flattened by the quake, early Wednesday to mourn the dead. Throughout the day, the clap of firecrackers rang out, a Sichuan custom to remember the deceased.
Over 90 percent of Beichuan's families suffered a loss in the quake.
"My mom was among the more than 20,000 people killed in the old county seat," said Li Sha, 25. She has secured a job at a local exhibition hall in order to be close to her father. "It's better for the rest of the family to stay together."
In Wenchuan County, the quake epicenter, residents presented chrysanthemums to mourn their deceased family members and the rescuers who lost lives while saving others.
In Longnan City in neighboring Gansu Province, more than 3,000 students held a candlelight vigil Tuesday night in memory of the quake dead. The candles were lined up to spell out "May 12, 2008."
"We feel life is so much better having survived the quake," said Li Bin, a third-grader at the No. 2 High School in Wudu District.
