Special Report: Reconstruction After Earthquake
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A resident presents flowers to a
monument for victims in the devastating earthquake striking southwest
China's Sichuan Province May 12, 2008, in Xining, northwest China's
Qinghai Province, April 4, 2009. A public memorial service was held here
on Saturday for victims in last year's dissolving earthquake during the
traditional Qingming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day. (Xinhua/Yang
Shoude)
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by Xinhua Writer Bai Xu
BEICHUAN, Sichuan province, April 4 (Xinhua) -- Tears
fell down her cheeks, like the rain dropping on her umbrella.
"I dreamed of my granddaughter several times," Tan
Yunlan said while sobbing.
Supported by her daughter, the elderly woman gazed at
a pile of rubble which used to be an apartment building in the former Beichuan
county seat.
Tan's son-in-law arranged several bricks to burn
incense, while her daughter took out a folded handkerchief from her bag. She
opened it and placed the photo of a four-year-old girl inside, then gently
placed it on the ground.
Behind the family, people walked slowly in twos and
threes, holding candles or white chrysanthemums. Firecrackers would sound
sporadically.
As Saturday was China's traditional Tomb Sweeping
Day, survivors of the quake-leveled county returned to what's left of their
homes to mourn loved ones.
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Two kids stick cards written with their
best wishes to the kids in the earthquake-hit areas to a memorial wall in
Suining, southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 4, 2009, the day of
Chinese Qingming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day. The 18-meter long and
3-meter high memorial wall was set up here for people to express
condolences to victims in the devastating earthquake striking Sichuan
Province on May 12, 2008. (Xinhua/Zhong Min)
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GRIEF IN QUAKE ZONES
More than 80,000 people were confirmed dead or
missing after the May 12, 2008 earthquake in southwest China's Sichuan province.
One of the worst-hit areas, 15,645 people were killed
in Beichuan. Another 4,311 others remain missing. Because of the destruction,
the county has been closed-off since May 20 last year. For the first time since
then, former residents were allowed to return for four days of mourning starting
Wednesday.
Life forever changed for Zhu Xiuhua after her husband
was buried under the county's vegetable market.
"He was considerate and diligent, earning 3,000 yuan
a month to support the family," she murmured, eyes swollen.
After the quake, Zhu became the family provider,
taking care of her parents-in-law and two sons. Although the local government
gave her some subsidy, she now has to work at construction sites like a man.
Facing the debris of the market, she drew a circle on
the ground with a stick and wrote the name of her husband.
"There were too many people who died in the quake. I
am afraid he can't find the money I gave him," she wept.
Zhu then lit a candle and placed it alongside the
pork she had cooked and set by the debris. Pork, was her husband's favorite
food. She then burned ghost money- one sheet after another, as an offering to
help the dead in afterlife.
"Don't worry about us. We can manage it," she
whispered to him.
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File photo taken on May 13, 2008 shows
Li Yang (C), a student from Beichuan Middle School, helps his trapped
classmate getting transfusion after the devastating earthquake badly hit
the area in Beichuan County, southwest China's Sichuan
Province.(Xinhua/Chen Xie)
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In Qingchuan county, flower seller He Xiantong
brought a bunch of chrysanthemums to an earthquake memorial park in Donghekou.
"Somewhere in the county, 40 meters underground, lies
my wife," he said. "I feel that we are so close."
At the same time, their son, He Kaiyuan, who is in
Chengdu, less than 300 kilometers away, stands facing Qingchuan. He also bought
flowers for his mother and placed them on the ground.
"Dad visits mom every day," he said. "Mom, dad is
with you. You must be happy in heaven."
In front of the tomb of Tan Qianqiu in Deyang city,
just north of Chengdu, many strangers stopped to mourn.
The teacher, from the Dongqi middle school, sheltered
four students with his arms when the quake jolted the building. When rescuers
arrived, they discovered Tan had died, but the students all survived.
Huang Jing, a girl who was from Hunan province,
dedicated a bouquet to Tan.
"He is also a native of Hunan," she said. "Although
he didn't know me, I brought him greetings from his hometown."
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Li Yang (R1), a student from Beichuan
Middle School and also a survivor from the devastating earthquake striking
southwest China's Sichuan Province May 12, 2008, mourns the earthquake
victims at the ruins of Beichuan Middle School in Beichuan County,
southwest China's Sichuan Province, April 4, 2009. Li arrived here early
Saturday, the traditional Qingming Festival or Tomb-sweeping Day, to mourn
his teachers and classmates killed by last year's earthquake.(Xinhua/Chen
Xie)
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