Wenchuan County, the epicenter of Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008 and one of the severely destroyed areas, has been refreshed with the help from Guangdong Province. The reconstruction not only sees new towns and villages erecting on the relics of earthquake, but also changes Wenchuan residents' life and mind.

The new Weizhou Town. [China.org.cn]

Wenchuan County government is located in Weizhou Town and three earthquake fault belts pass through it. The earthquake destroyed all its public service facilities such as hospitals and schools and 70 percent of houses in the county. Its industry was wrecked. 80 percent of farmland was damaged. The total economic loss amounted to 63.4 billion yuan (US$9.29 billion).

After the earthquake, Guangdong Province became the aid partner for Wenchuan County with an investment of 82 billion yuan (US$12.01 billion) and 702 projects. All the schools in Weizhou were put into use in August last year and 10 major civil programs such as houses, hospitals, social welfare homes, roads, shelter plaza, drainage systems, gymnasiums and culture activity centers were completed last December. Villages featured with Qiang ethnic minority's culture such as Sanjiang and Shuimo have been reconstructed and open to tourists within one and half years.

The shelter plaza in Weizhou Town. [China.org.cn]

"Guangdong's speed really changed us a lot. The Guangdong people value time. In our Qiang's culture, if I say I will do something ‘later,' I mean hours later. But they think it means you should do it in the next minute. After the quake, all government officials worked day and night. But the workers from Guangdong tended to increase efficiency and finished everyday's work within eight hours. We learnt a lot from them," Chen Kang, vice director of publicity department of Wenchuan County government, told China.org.cn. People's lifestyle has been changed. As the new buildings are cleaner than the old ones, villagers pay more attention to keeping a good community environment.

The local economy recovered fast with the reconstruction too. The fiscal revenue of Wenchuan County last year was 96.68 million yuan (US$14.16 million), nearly 80 percent of the revenue before earthquake. "We plan to make 126 million yuan (US$18.45 million) in 2010," Chen stated. In the future, Wenchuan County plans to explore natural resources such as aluminum and hydropower. Farmers will plant cash crops such as tea, kiwi fruit and vegetables selling to Chengdu, capital city of Sichuan Province. Local women will make and sell traditional Qiang embroidery. Moreover, tourism will be fully developed as all the ancient towns have been reconstructed by Guangdong. Guangdong government also offered at least 2,000 jobs to help people make a living.

A statue of a Qiang woman holding hands with a Han woman. [China.org.cn]

Chen added, "The government organized various activities to cheer up people. We held a Guozhuang (a kind of traditional Qiang dance) competition last year. We invited psychological professionals to give lectures to ease pressure. Every village would organize their traditional cultural activities. Guangdong's work showed us hope. Many people are greatly encouraged and have confidence in building a new life."