06/07 Mudslides wreak havoc in Sichuan

China Daily, July 6, 2011

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Rescuers have been battling to help people affected by mudslides brought about by intense rain in Yingxiu, Wenchuan county, Sichuan province, but officials and locals said on Tuesday that the situation on the ground still depends on the weather and whether they get more rain.

Part of a bridge in Yingxiu, Wenchuan county, Sichuan province, remains while another section has been washed out by mudslides triggered by torrential rain. Many people were trapped on the bridge on Monday. [Xinhua]

The affected area surrounds one of the towns that was hardest hit by the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in 2008.

Statistics show Yingxiu has received 384.2 millimeters of rain since June 30, with much of it having fallen since Sunday.

Mudslides into the Yuzixi River, which flows through Yingxiu, raised the riverbed by between 3 and 5 meters and continuing rain has brought down more and more slides of mud and rock.

So far, no casualties have been reported. However, locals are worried that the river will become blocked and flood the town, according to Wenchuan county's meteorological bureau.

Downstream, 30 meters of riverbank has been washed away.

A team of more than 300 people arrived on Monday with at least 60 pieces of heavy equipment and began to remove debris from the river and repair broken riverbanks with huge rocks wrapped in steel nets. They said on Tuesday the reconstruction of the riverbanks was almost complete.

Zhang Tongrong, the county chief of Wenchuan, told China Daily many of the problems were under control on Tuesday and said the situation was improving.

However, lingering heavy rain has hampered the work.

Wang Qiang, program manager at Qitian Construction Company, said heavy rain on Monday added more debris to the riverbed and increased the water volume, making it impossible for some machines to work.

He said the situation improved on Tuesday and predicted work could be over in three days if the weather holds out.

People living close to the river have been packed and ready for a possible evacuation to an emergency shelter.

Yun Yuming, 39, said it will hurt him and his family if they lose their house again after it was destroyed in the 2008 earthquake.

Wang Lei, manager of Yingxiu-Wenchuan Highway Administration Company, said the 8.0-magnitude earthquake in 2008 was likely responsible for the recent mudslides.

"The earthquake in 2008 destroyed the integrity of the surface, making it much easier for the rain to flush away earth and rocks," Wang said.

His view was repeated by Ma Dongtao, an expert on earthquake aftermath prevention at the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Ma predicted that the mudslides and landslides in Wenchuan are just the beginning of a phase that could last for 100 years.

"Landslide prevention work will be the most important issue in dealing with the aftermath," the Shanghai Morning Post quoted Ma as saying.

It was not the first time that Wenchuan has been hit by mudslides and floods. In August last year, the town suffered 16 mudslides, which forced the Minjiang River to divert and flooded Yingxiu, leaving 41 people missing and 30,000 others affected.

Highway cut off

Meanwhile, National Highway 213 between Chengdu, the capital of Sichuan, and Wenchuan was severed for a second time in three days because of mudslides. At least four sections of the highway have been obstructed by the slides.

The Minjiang River changed its course on Sunday and cut through the highway and several hundred meters of road was washed away.

The problems trapped more than 7,000 vehicles and 30,000 people and led to more than 6,000 vehicles retracing their routes and getting out of the area.

Restoration work on the road could take 10 days, according to the local traffic authority.

Falling mud and rocks from the mountains severed the link between Wenchuan and the outside world on July 1 and construction workers rushed to reopen the highway the next day.

National Highway 213, which links Sichuan with the provinces of Gansu to the north and Yunnan to the south, was referred to as a "lifeline" by rescue workers after the devastating 2008 Wenchuan earthquake.

12/05 POINT OF VIEW / Nobuyoshi Sakajiri: Sichuan earthquake-hit areas now attract tourists

Nobuyoshi Sakajiri (The Asahi Shimbun)

Nearly three years after a massive earthquake hit China's Sichuan province, a young woman was posing in front of a collapsed building, making the V-sign with her hand while her male companion took her photograph. The stricken area of the deadly May 12, 2008, earthquake that left about 87,000 people dead or missing has turned into a "tourist spot."

In Yingxiu, a town in Wenchuan county, Sichuan, which was close to the epicenter, about half of the slightly more than 10,000 residents were killed and around 90 percent of the town's buildings collapsed. Tourists who visit the town on sightseeing buses are greeted by a signboard that shows a guide map of the "ruins of the Yingxiu epicenter."

Yingxiu's Xuankou middle school where 43 students were killed has preserved part of the school building that fell down. A sign at the entrance carries the words of Li Changchun, a member of the Chinese Communist Party's Politburo Standing Committee who oversees the party's propaganda activities, to make the site a "base" for education of "national solidarity" and "patriotism."

The town also has a promenade where people can walk for pleasure and a "tourist center." Some of the newly built homes for earthquake survivors have been turned into souvenir shops and restaurants that serve tourists. One of them even carries a sign advertising Italian-style ice cream.

A monument dedicated to the victims of the earthquake stands on a hill overlooking the school. Local residents were selling chrysanthemums for visitors who lay them before the monument. A set of three flowers sold for 5 yuan (about 60 yen or 74 cents). A 42-year-old woman who lost her teenage daughter in the earthquake was selling photos of the school before and after its collapse.

"Houses were built on the land where I used to farm," she said. "I cannot make ends meet unless I make some cash."

Sichuan's Beichuan Qiang autonomous county, which suffered catastrophic damage, moved to a neighboring county where it built new homes, a county office and schools. It opened the ruined city area to the public and operates a shuttle bus that carries tourists to and from a parking lot for a fare of 13 yuan. It is also considering construction of an aerial tramway to carry tourists to a hill that commands a view of the ruined area.

As part of the efforts to rebuild the stricken area, the Chinese government paired up 19 provinces and cities outside Sichuan province with local governments in the quake-hit zone.

The gross provincial product of Guangdong province, which paired with Wenchuan county, tops Indonesia's gross domestic product. The situation also presents a golden opportunity for local government executives who want to join party leadership to prove themselves. The partner provinces and cities are vying with one another to rebuild the infrastructure of the stricken areas. Some of them chose to make the most of the earthquake damage to attract tourists in defiance of opposition by bereaved families who are still suffering the loss of their loved ones.

Meanwhile, holding parties responsible for slipshod construction of buildings that fell apart is making little progress. Such jerry-built structures are likened to buildings made with the "bean curd refuse construction method," a term coined by an indignant Zhu Rongji, who was Chinese premier in 1998 when embankments of the Yangtze River broke during a massive flood because of sloppy construction work. The Great Sichuan Earthquake killed more than 5,000 elementary school and older students. While slipshod construction of school buildings became a social problem, exactly how many of them in Wenchuan and Beichuan were destroyed has yet to be made public.

Three years ago, Premier Wen Jiabao entered the stricken area on the day the earthquake hit. He visited Beichuan middle school where more than 1,000 students were killed and encouraged survivors with tears in his eyes.

Despite such circumstances, the school was not included in the list of designated "ruins." A police box was built in front of the school site where rubble is piled up. Signs of "no photography allowed" are posted here and there. In the last three years, many lawyers who supported parents who lost their children were arrested.

In mid-April, as I was walking around the "ruins," I came across an entourage of high-ranking officials of the Publicity Department of the Communist Party's Central Committee. I was told they were visiting the stricken area to make a preliminary inspection for a memorial service to be held May 12 with the attendance of Premier Wen. About half an hour later, their motorcade of 15 cars left the area without stopping at the site where the school once stood.

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Nobuyoshi Sakajiri is the chief of The Asahi Shimbun's China General Bureau in Beijing.