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

Three years ago, an 8.0-magnitude earthquake jolted¹ southwest China's Sichuan province and killed an estimated 69-thousand people.

The tremor² 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 ethnic³ Qiang culture.

However, the 2008 Sichuan earthquake changed all that.

"Beichuan county is located at the mountainous area, and is prone⁴ 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 preservation⁵ 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 reconstruction⁶ 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 hustle⁷ and bustle⁸, 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 basking⁹ 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 donors¹⁰ 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 helping¹¹ 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.

1 jolted   

（使）摇动， （使）震惊( jolt的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The truck jolted and rattled over the rough ground. 卡车嘎吱嘎吱地在凹凸不平的地面上颠簸而行。
• She was jolted out of her reverie as the door opened. 门一开就把她从幻想中惊醒。

2 tremor   

n.震动，颤动，战栗，兴奋，地震

参考例句：

• There was a slight tremor in his voice.他的声音有点颤抖。
• A slight earth tremor was felt in California.加利福尼亚发生了轻微的地震。

3 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

4 prone   

adj.(to)易于…的，很可能…的；俯卧的

参考例句：

• Some people are prone to jump to hasty conclusions.有些人往往作出轻率的结论。
• He is prone to lose his temper when people disagree with him.人家一不同意他的意见,他就发脾气。

5 preservation   

n.保护，维护，保存，保留，保持

参考例句：

• The police are responsible for the preservation of law and order.警察负责维持法律与秩序。
• The picture is in an excellent state of preservation.这幅画保存得极为完好。

6 reconstruction   

n.重建，再现，复原

参考例句：

• The country faces a huge task of national reconstruction following the war.战后，该国面临着重建家园的艰巨任务。
• In the period of reconstruction,technique decides everything.在重建时期，技术决定一切。

7 hustle   

v.推搡；竭力兜售或获取；催促；n.奔忙(碌)

参考例句：

• It seems that he enjoys the hustle and bustle of life in the big city.看起来他似乎很喜欢大城市的热闹繁忙的生活。
• I had to hustle through the crowded street.我不得不挤过拥挤的街道。

8 bustle   

v.喧扰地忙乱，匆忙，奔忙；n.忙碌；喧闹

参考例句：

• The bustle and din gradually faded to silence as night advanced.随着夜越来越深，喧闹声逐渐沉寂。
• There is a lot of hustle and bustle in the railway station.火车站里非常拥挤。

9 basking   

v.晒太阳，取暖( bask的现在分词 )；对…感到乐趣；因他人的功绩而出名；仰仗…的余泽

参考例句：

• We sat basking in the warm sunshine. 我们坐着享受温暖的阳光。
• A colony of seals lay basking in the sun. 一群海豹躺着晒太阳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

10 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。