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Film crew's first-hand experience of Sichuan earthquake
By Liu Wei (China Daily)
Updated: 2009-05-05 07:52
Trail of the Panda may be the last cinematic depiction of the magnificent view of Wolong preserve and the surrounding mountains, because the earthquake that shook Sichuan on May 12 last year has changed the landscape completely. When the earthquake hit, a 26-member crew, led by director Yu Zhong, was shooting on Balang Mountain. Shooting of the film was all but over and most of the crew had left Sichuan. On the way up the mountain, about 200 km from Chengdu and neighboring Wenchuan, the epicenter of the quake, Yu's bus suddenly shook fiercely. Yu and his team thought it was the rocky terrain or there was a tire problem, but soon they found a hill in front had split. Their mobile phones had no reception. Aftershocks hit from time to time. The team stayed in the bus that night, in darkness. The next morning they got off the bus, trying to walk back to Wolong preserve where they started from, but after an hour it seemed almost impossible. Roads and rivers had changed directions. Two people walking back from the direction of Wolong told them the road ahead was struck by boulders. The team drove in the opposite direction, arriving at Rilong, a small town 220km from Chengdu, in the evening. They passed by fallen houses and people crying over bodies of their dear ones. Yu gave 10 people he met along the way a lift. In Rilong, Yu found a friend, a local resident called Lao Qi. A few days previously Lao Qi had sent his 8-month-old son to his mother-in-law's at Wenchuan. When Yu and his team arrived, Lao Qi was leaving for Wenchuan to look for his son and family. Lao Qi left some food, medicine and quilts to Yu. "He said if his son died, he could not live on. I told him that good people will have good luck," Yu says. On May 14 the team moved on toward Chengdu, arriving at the midday on May 15. They took help from the local government to fill the vehicle's petrol tank and lived on instant noodles. The 26 crew members and the people picked up along the way were safe. More good news arrived. Soon Yu heard from Lao Qi that he had found his son as well as the family of his mother-in-law in Wenchuan. Five days after the earthquake, producer Jennifer Liu finally got through to Wolong preserve by phone. Liu asked if her crew could do anything to help. Staff of the preserve said they only wanted some recording facilities to record the pandas' voices for further research.
(China Daily 05/05/2009 page19) |
