Winter and economy chilling China quake zone
DUJIANGYAN, China, Dec 9 (Reuters) - Seven months after the Sichuan earthquake levelled wide swathes of southwest China, millions of victims are battling biting cold and a fast-cooling economy to rebuild their shattered lives.
A rapid slowdown in Chinese tourism amid the global financial crisis only compounds the pain in Dujiangyan, a city surrounded by ancient waterworks but reduced to rubble by the May 12 quake which killed more than 80,000 people.
The downtown of Dujiangyan, a once thriving commercial hub popular with tourists and weekend visitors, is now eerily quiet, especially at night.
Many of the buildings here still stand, albeit at an angle, but most are empty. More than half the kerbside stores are shut, and shoppers are few and far between in the ones that are open.
"There are many fewer tourists here than before," said a gatekeeper at a local scenic spot surnamed Teng. "Partly because of the earthquake, partly because of the economic crisis.
"People will not go out for fun if they have no money."
Yang Tingxiu and her husband, both in their 50s, ran a business before the disaster, but now scratch out a living doing cleaning jobs around their temporary housing community.
"We lost everything in the earthquake except our lives," said Yang, who lives with her husband in a portable dwelling furnished with an old, donated television and a gas cylinder.
"We just scrape along. The only way for us to survive in winter is to put on more clothes."
BLACK YEAR FOR TOURISM
It has been a black year for China's tourism industry, hit by unseasonably cold weather last winter, by restrictions on travel to Lhasa and other Tibetan areas following a Tibetan uprising in March, and by the Olympics, when many Chinese stayed at home to watch the Games rather than travel in August.
China's National Tourism Administration has pledged to return up to 70 percent of travel agencies' deposits -- funds kept in reserve to compensate tourists in case of accidents and other claims -- to stem the flow of red ink in the sector, the China Daily said on Tuesday.
But in the quake zone, despite China's plans to spend 1 trillion yuan ($145.5 billion) on rebuilding, the fiscal stimulus package remains cold comfort for millions still living in tents and temporary housing.
A Siberian cold front lashed China last week, plunging temperatures in quake zones to below freezing. Officials forecast another cold winter this year.
Conditions in the temporary communities are spartan but livable, with communal kitchens, supermarkets, schools and even massage parlours. Some residents have grumbled online that the government has not provided enough assistance and the high price of vegetables is a recurring gripe.
"Dujiangyan's economy has shrunk to the level of the very beginning of China's reform and opening up," said Teng, referring to economic reforms launched 30 years ago this month.
Quake-hit families in Dujiangyan have been offered 140,000 yuan or a new 70-sq-m apartment on the condition they give up their property rights to their past homes.
For Teng, the gatekeeper, the rebuilding shows the government has done a good job.
"The relief is working and welfare is better than before."
Xiang'e, a nearby town that lost nearly all its children when the school collapsed, is now a massive construction site, complete with billboards showing the blueprints of "our new hometown".
"The construction needs some time," said a young bulldozer driver at Xiang'e. "But as we are working, it will be done soon."
($1=6.871 Yuan)
(For more information on humanitarian crises and issues visit www.alertnet.org) (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Ian Ransom and Lucy Hornby; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
A rapid slowdown in Chinese tourism amid the global financial crisis only compounds the pain in Dujiangyan, a city surrounded by ancient waterworks but reduced to rubble by the May 12 quake which killed more than 80,000 people.
The downtown of Dujiangyan, a once thriving commercial hub popular with tourists and weekend visitors, is now eerily quiet, especially at night.
Many of the buildings here still stand, albeit at an angle, but most are empty. More than half the kerbside stores are shut, and shoppers are few and far between in the ones that are open.
"There are many fewer tourists here than before," said a gatekeeper at a local scenic spot surnamed Teng. "Partly because of the earthquake, partly because of the economic crisis.
"People will not go out for fun if they have no money."
Yang Tingxiu and her husband, both in their 50s, ran a business before the disaster, but now scratch out a living doing cleaning jobs around their temporary housing community.
"We lost everything in the earthquake except our lives," said Yang, who lives with her husband in a portable dwelling furnished with an old, donated television and a gas cylinder.
"We just scrape along. The only way for us to survive in winter is to put on more clothes."
BLACK YEAR FOR TOURISM
It has been a black year for China's tourism industry, hit by unseasonably cold weather last winter, by restrictions on travel to Lhasa and other Tibetan areas following a Tibetan uprising in March, and by the Olympics, when many Chinese stayed at home to watch the Games rather than travel in August.
China's National Tourism Administration has pledged to return up to 70 percent of travel agencies' deposits -- funds kept in reserve to compensate tourists in case of accidents and other claims -- to stem the flow of red ink in the sector, the China Daily said on Tuesday.
But in the quake zone, despite China's plans to spend 1 trillion yuan ($145.5 billion) on rebuilding, the fiscal stimulus package remains cold comfort for millions still living in tents and temporary housing.
A Siberian cold front lashed China last week, plunging temperatures in quake zones to below freezing. Officials forecast another cold winter this year.
Conditions in the temporary communities are spartan but livable, with communal kitchens, supermarkets, schools and even massage parlours. Some residents have grumbled online that the government has not provided enough assistance and the high price of vegetables is a recurring gripe.
"Dujiangyan's economy has shrunk to the level of the very beginning of China's reform and opening up," said Teng, referring to economic reforms launched 30 years ago this month.
Quake-hit families in Dujiangyan have been offered 140,000 yuan or a new 70-sq-m apartment on the condition they give up their property rights to their past homes.
For Teng, the gatekeeper, the rebuilding shows the government has done a good job.
"The relief is working and welfare is better than before."
Xiang'e, a nearby town that lost nearly all its children when the school collapsed, is now a massive construction site, complete with billboards showing the blueprints of "our new hometown".
"The construction needs some time," said a young bulldozer driver at Xiang'e. "But as we are working, it will be done soon."
($1=6.871 Yuan)
(For more information on humanitarian crises and issues visit www.alertnet.org) (Reporting by Beijing newsroom; Writing by Ian Ransom and Lucy Hornby; Editing by Bill Tarrant)
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