At 2.28pm on 12 May 2008 a 8.0 Richter scale earthquake caused massive damage in the Tibetan/Qiang ethnic area of Sichuan province to the north and west of the capital city Chengdu in western China. Buildings collapsed, hillsides fell into valleys and the death toll from the quake was staggering.
TV coverage of the devastation focussed on two specific images; the collapse of a junior high school at Yinxin and the fall of a huge hillside boulder onto a primary school at Beichuan and the many deaths that these caused. However the loss of life was very large throughout the area affected.
With the assistance of a huge injection of funds from the central Chinese government, from other provinces and from donations from expatriate Chinese around the world the speed and scale of the recovery from this natural disaster has been quite amazing. Within three years it is sometimes nearly impossible to see where the damage occurred, new villages and towns have been rebuilt (often to a much higher standard than before) and life goes on – although I have no doubt that the mental and physical scars of this tragedy will continue for many years.
In April 2011 the local authorities organised the Sichuan International Tourism and Cultural Festival designed to showcase the recovery and reconstruction from the May 2008 disaster. This had originally been planned for September 2010 but heavy rains, floods and landslides caused a cancellation at that time.
I was fortunate to attend the celebrations that highlighted the reconstruction since the earthquake and showcased the incredible variety of arts and crafts of the local ethnic groups particularly the range of dance, music and traditional activities and crafts of the people.
The festival began with a sumptuous banquet at the Jinjiang Hotel in Chengdu. Apart from the usual line-up of dignitaries the banquet (and the festival) hosted many travel agents and a few media from all round the world. The agents and media were specifically drawn from companies and outlets that would be in a position to bring the many attractions of the region to potential tourists e.g. wonderful scenery, ethnic celebrations, the Giant Pandas at Chengdu and the spicy Sichuan cuisine.
The following morning all the delegates moved on to Shuimo where another spectacular ‘opening’ ceremony was held. Driving to Shuimo the buses travelled along roadways adorned with colourful flags and huge crowds of local villagers were assembled to greet the delegates, together with a line-up of local ethnic tribespeople in traditional costume. The seating arrangements were spectacular with each seat (with individual name tags) having a small Giant Panda ‘stuffed’ toy on the seat. The official opening was preceded by displays of dancing and singing, numerous speeches and concluded with a noisy fireworks display.
Sdancers perform at opening ceremony at Shuimo
The dress of the tribespeople was spectacular with colourful dresses and jackets, shoes and headgear. Some were dresses as warriors and schoolchildren and students at the local teacher’s college waved banners and each delegate was greeted with a long red and white scarf.
male dancers of Qiang ethnic group at Shuimo
Walking through reconstructed Shuimo there were displays from other regions of Sichuan and many shops were open showcasing local food – tofu, beans much heavily spiced as is the norm in Sichuan cuisine.
The major earthquake damage was centred round villages and small towns along the narrow Minjiang River valley (with steep mountainsides hovering above on both sides). In the three years since the quake much of the damage had been repaired with new houses and shops, a two lane road through the valley and even the ‘foundation’ pylons for a new four lane highway are in place (anticipated completion by end of 2012!).
Some evidence of the devastating nature of the quake had been left including a broken bridge, some older buildings and the façade of a hospital where the clocked was stopped at 2.28pm. The most moving sight was the ‘memorial’ to the many students at the Middle High School at Yinxin who died when the building collapsed – buildings all crumpled and at crazy angles and a broken clock face also set at 2.28pm. At Mutuo village the only means of access is still a pedestrian footbridge across the river.
memorial at Middle High School at Yinxin
At each village and small town there were displays by members of the Qiang and Aba Tibetan ethnic people. Women, old and young, were doing intricate embroidery, a small field was being tilled by wooden equipment pulled by yaks, men were tilling fields and local wine and spirits were displayed.
The small town of Beichuan was one of the most affected by the quake (over 17,000 died) and the ruins have been left as a permanent reminder of the destruction that can be caused by nature. As at Yinxin each delegate placed a flower at the scene of the destruction. The experience was overwhelming. As if the earthquake was not bad enough, a month afterwards heavy and continuous rain caused the highest level of flooding in the town’s history (and this happened again in September 2010) just compounding the misery.
About 10km away ‘New’ Beichuan has been constructed including schools, residential areas, factories and shops. We were greeted by students (all in bright yellow tracksuits) from the local high school – all wanted to show off their English language skills – and took part in another ceremony to officially open a new shopping street in the town.
Other areas including towns closer to Chengdu were also badly affected by the earthquake including Jiulong and the major centre of Mianyang City. At Nianhua village we saw the famous New Year pictures that are painted on the walls of houses, a traditional craft which is being passed down from old to young.
The delegates to the festival were treated like celebrities. At villages everyone wanted to greet you and take your photo, singly or posed with locals. I loved watching the people themselves, old women carrying grandchildren in baskets on their backs, attractive young women dressed up to take part in the festival, old men some still wearing their Mao outfits.
women specialise in intricate embroidery
To allow the convoy of buses to proceed quickly between towns the police often held up traffic which waited patiently till we passed – at one point along about 80km of highway there were police at attention about every 400m!
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