CRI听力:Supporting Reconstruction in Sichuan

Since the 2008 May 12th Earthquake in Sichuan, the whole country has shifted into high gear to rebuild areas destroyed in the disaster. Many provinces and municipalities are supporting a quake-hit county or village. Zhejiang Province, which is about 2,000 kilometers away, is the aid partner supporting Qingchuan County, one of the worst hit in the quake. Now, two years have passed-how is the reconstruction work in Qingchuan progressing?



The Qima Township under Qingchuan County is supported by Yongkang City of Zhejiang Province. After two years of reconstruction work, the township has now regained its vigor, with tidy residential communities and sound basic facilities.

Upon arrival, the first sight is the Primary School of Qima Township. The steel-gray tiles make the building look calm and peaceful. The light yellow walls lend a feeling of warmth. The primary school has now become a landmark in the township.

Here is the head of the reconstruction team that Yongkang City sent to Qima, Chen Zhenchan.

"Now, when arriving in Qima Township, we'll see the school building from afar. There is a bell tower with clocks on the four sides. And we used luminous material to make the clocks, so they look quite good at night too."

Now, looking at the present scene in Qima Township, it's hard to imagine the post-quake ruins and debris. The villagers all live in tidy and stylish new apartment buildings. With the help of the support team from Yongkang, Zhejiang Province, the township now has its own plumbing system, which supplies safe water to all village residents. Besides the basic facilities, the support team also designed and helped construct a bamboo fungus production base, a farm produce market, public restrooms and an entertainment square. All these have brought a new and energetic image to Qima Township. To show appreciation to the Zhejiang citizens who helped the locals build up their new homes, the main street is named Yongkang Street.

Chen Zhenchan, the support team leader, is proud of their work.

"Our design is unique, different from other towns. The market is also the best among others."

Villagers are quite satisfied with life in the brand new Qima Township. Chen says they are now working on construction of a public disaster sanctuary, building village roads and developing other industrial projects for the township.

"Villagers couldn't imagine they'd have driveways in the village. Before, they had to carry a basket on their back and climb over mountains to get out of the village to shop, which was quite difficult. But now we have built up seven roads connecting six villages. The total length of the roads has reached over 24 kilometers. Villagers are all very happy. Their lives have changed a lot."

Although the whole country was in the shadow of the global financial crisis, and Zhejiang is one of the worst-hit provinces in the crisis, that hasn't stopped the aid projects in Qingchuan County, Sichuan Province. They've built schools and hospitals in 36 towns in Qingchuan with an investment reaching about 1 billion US dollars.