By Shan Juan (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-06 07:47

MIANYANG, Sichuan -- Rong Zheng is wearing an off-the-shoulder top, low-cut jeans and shiny black shoes; her two loop earrings dazzle in the sun occasionally.

The 24-year-old is no different from her peers of the post-80s generation in appearance, but the big-eyed young lady is somewhat different now.

She is looking after and managing, along with her colleagues, nearly 2,800 locals at a 300-tent shelter in the Qingyi township, Mianyang city.

People ride through the Baosheng Road shelter in Qingyi, Sichuan province June 5, 2008. It is one of 252 resettlement zones close to the Tangjiashan. [China Daily]

After graduating in administration management from Southwest Technology University, Rong, a native of Qingyi, passed the exam to become a deputy village head here last October.

After the May 12 massive earthquake, she was deployed on a new mission - guiding her fellow villagers to shelter from their homes, endangered by the swollen earthquake-induced Tangjiashan quake lake, which is at risk of bursting.

"I have felt tightly connected with the people since then, and the supreme responsibility to secure their safety," she told China Daily at her "office", a small tent with two desks and several benches.

"I could not imagine in those days what would happen if I failed to excavate my people," she said. "The scenarios of displacing them often broke into my dreams."

Even now, with all the people here safe, it's still not the time to relax, she said.

"I have to keep a close eye on them, as some of them secretly try to go home possibly to get their belongings like TV sets and refrigerators, or to take a bath," she noted.

Given the temperature at midday reaches 40 C in the tent, their going home to shelter from the hot weather is definitely understandable, she said.

"However, I have to stop them out of safety concerns and sometimes I even yell."

Before the quake, Rong was used to dealing with paperwork.

"This experience was a great lesson in how to get along with people," she said. Many of them here are of the age of my parents, who live 30 minutes' drive from the shelter, she said.

"I feel a sense of belonging and being needed for the first time in my life when I helped them pitch a new tent, deliver needy drugs, and raise hygiene awareness," she said.

As the only daughter of the family who seldom did housework, she said it was incredible for her to go through such hard times with so many trivial things to do.

For the past week, she has begun work at 7 am and goes to bed after midnight.

"A night patrol here is a must for me to ensure there are no fire risks, and I usually don't sleep until everyone else has gone to bed," she said.

"The earthquake and the hardship incurred has helped me to grow up fast, and you know what? I feel so content inside."

She said: "But I wish the impact of the tragedy fades away gradually and the rebuilding of our hometown commences soon.

"I anticipate a rich and busy work life as deputy village head, and then I'll become a Party member," she said.

"When everything returns to normal I'll dress up and go shopping with my friends again," she said.