Tent towns house China's earthquake refugees

By Lucy Hornby

PINGTONG, China (Reuters) - When the earthquake came to Pingtong it destroyed all but four buildings in this town, once home to 9,700 people.

A week later the survivors are refugees in the ruins, situated in a gorge directly above the fault-line that delivered a 7.9 magnitude blow to Sichuan province on May 12.

The town lost 111 middle-school school students and 47 grammar school students. Every adult can give the exact count of the children lost and saved, although they are vague on the total number of deaths, estimated at about 500.

Despite grief and exhaustion, local officials were still proud to show off the new Pingtong, a testament to the efficiency of China's relief effort.

Green tents in an open field were labeled "Pingtong People's Government," "Health Department", "Clinic", and "Security." Doctors waited and night watchmen patrolled.

Supply trucks came and went constantly in front of the two large tents that serve as a depot for food distribution.

In the orchard behind, two hundred blue tents connected by tidy brick walkways housed 12 people each. Scavenged furniture is set up in shaded yards, where the townspeople sit and wait. Many looked close to tears.

"One family, one tent. But some families are missing children or parents, so we might put them together," said He Lin, a policeman.

"A lot of families are incomplete."

COMMUNAL LIFE

After five days with few meals and rationed water, the Pingtong canteen opened this weekend in time for a visit by vice premier Li Keqiang.

More importantly, a mostly-open road means trucks can come through, with food and water for Pingtong and remoter villages.

The depot issued 40 tonnes of rice and 50 tonnes of flour in the last few days, said Wu Zhihui, a representative of the local People's Congress. He proudly pointed out stacks of bottled water, dry biscuits, huge zucchini and limp cauliflower.

"In a way, this is the perfect world. Everyone gets what they need, for free, and everyone helps everyone else," said a young man who introduced himself as a volunteer assigned by the county-level Communist Party to work as an auditor.

"That's because Chinese are warmheated and put their nation ahead of the individual, not the other way around the way people put themselves first in Western countries."