Earthquake City: Sichuan Part 2

Special note: I am currently sitting in a very strange Chinese "coffee shop" in Nanchang to get some expensive Internet. I am posting about a million posts today. They are repaving the roads around our school, so for some reason that had to cut the phone and Internet. It will be off probably until next week. So I decided to post all the rest of the blogs from my little travel series. You don't have to read them all at once; take your time. But make sure to scroll down for ones you might have missed. Thanks for joining in the adventure!

February 18, 2010:

I've seen so many different parts of China, that I feel like there's nothing left to see. But I know there is... Jenni, Kelsey, and I left early this morning from the town of Dujiangyan. It is only about 45 minutes away from Chengdu, but it seems a lot different. It is damp and chilly like Nanchang, and there are some parts that are very ancient and beautiful. The city is surrounded by lush mountains, blue rivers, and huge trees. It's pretty nice and scenic.

We mostly walked around town, visited Jenni's school, and took pictures. The whole place and all its architecture seemed very "China-y." A lot of the ancient temples and buildings had survived the May 2008 earthquake, which had a 7.9 magnitude; it was the newer structures that collapsed.

Even nearly two years later, there was still quite a bit of evidence there had been a devastating earthquake. Dujiangyan has a population of 400,000 people, and 10,000 of them died. At one collapsed middle school 900 children died. It's all sort of
overwhelming to be in a place of such tragedy and natural beauty all mixed together.

The city was like a huge construction project. Many people still lived in temporary housing, and sudden gaps between buildings showed where structures had once stood. There were some crumpled, half-standing buildings that were still waiting to be replaced. Cranes were everywhere. It was mind-numbing to see all of the construction projects, especially apartment complexes. Most Chinese cities are constantly experiencing a building boom, but this was extreme.

And there was still so much rubble. The outskirts of the city were just huge rubble fields. They must have dumped a lot of the ruins from the city there. The rubble was mixed with half-collapsed countryside houses that had been abandoned. Even buildings that were still standing and being used often had signs of damage, such as missing bricks, huge cracks, and jagged concrete facades. All the bridges and most of the roads and highway overpasses were brand new after being destroyed. It was like the city had to be rebuilt nearly from scratch.

So that was my very interesting day. Dujiangyan was beautiful, but it was also a bit eerie. Life has sprung up from the ruins, and it was amazing to see just a glimpse of the consequences of such a powerful earthquake. It just makes me sad to know that there were thousands of lives lost, especially because so many buildings crumpled like matchsticks.

Well, tomorrow Kelsey and I fly back "home" to Nanchang. I think I'm ready!


(Dujiangyan).


(Center of Dujiangyan).


(On a nearly empty bus with Jenni).


(Rubble behind the walls).