Two years after an earthquake killed 196 people in Lushan County, southwest China's Sichuan Province, local officials have told how they are rebuilding villages using a more patient and democratic model than has been adopted with other Chinese quakes.
Locals have formed committees to have input into how their villages are rebuilt. Authorities have identified spots that are susceptible to quake damage and built more quake-resistant buildings. And Chinese and foreign experts have redesigned villages, encouraging their inhabitants to alleviate poverty by pursuing new business opportunities including tourism.
Authorities planned to take three years to rebuild Lushan. That compares to a five-year reconstruction plan after the far more devastating quake which claimed more than 80,000 lives around Sichuan's Wenchuan County in 2008.
"We would rather take it slow and make a scientific overall plan, based on people's needs, integrating reconstruction with efforts to upgrade the mode of economic development in the quake zone," said Wang Dongming, Communist Party chief of Sichuan.
Jin Zhaoxing, a 70-year-old living in Caoping Village, heads one of the locals' committees through which they are involved in choosing building locations and pushing for fair prices for quality materials.
"The contractors call me a troublemaker. But it is my job to make trouble for them," said Jin, who retired from his job at a hydro-power plant some 10 years ago. He lost his house in the quake, as did 270 other families in Caoping.
Regardless of weather conditions, he appears on the construction site every day, harangueing workers about every detail from concrete quality to the buildings' appearance.
"I have my new home here and I'm aware of the villagers' expectations. I can't let them down," Jin said.
While soliciting opinions from these committees, Sichuan is aiming to reshape villages, especially remote ones, to exploit tourism.
Inhabitants of Snow Mountain Village in Muping Town of Baoxing County used to make a living by growing corn, wheat and potatoes, but their fields were largely covered by landslides.
