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China begins rebuilding Qiang minority group museum

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-12 16:38

MAOXIAN, Sichuan - Reconstruction of a museum of the ancient ethnic group Qiang, which was devastated in the massive earthquake a year ago, began here Tuesday.

Special coverage:  Sichuan, One Year On... Related readings:  New school opens in Chengdu after quake  Reconstruction of Beichuan Middle School starts on anniversary  Hu attends ceremony marking quake anniversary in Sichuan  Photo exhibition of Sichuan village reconstruction opens  Seismologist tells regret, expectation of quake prediction

With an investment of 138.68 million yuan (US$ 20.3 million), the new museum would cover 4 hectares with a floor space of 10,000 square meters, said Wang Defeng, director of the culture bureau in Maoxian County, Sichuan Province.

Work will be finished in two years, after which all the collections that belong to the museum but were transferred to the provincial capital Chengdu after the quake will return, along with 800 items collected during the past year.

Among the 87,000 people killed or missing in the quake, about 30,000 were from the Qiang minority, or 10 percent of the ethnic group whose history stretches back at least 3,000 years.

The Qiang are famous for their unique language, customs, arts and religious beliefs. They are also known for their stone homes, often three or four stories tall. About 80 percent of the Qiang people are in the quake-hit areas of Maoxian, Wenchuan, and Beichuan counties.

Picture taken on April 26, 2009 shows two women selecting dresses at a local shopping street in a newly-built township in Beichuan Qiang Autonomous County, southwest China's Sichuan Province. Life has resumed normal here after last May's devastating earthquake. People in the region are struggling for a better future. [Xinhua]

During the quake, the museum in Maoxian was seriously damaged and 1,013 items from its collections were destroyed or damaged.

Shan Jixiang, director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, said the rebuilding of the museum was an important step in preserving the Qiang culture. Shan said the museum was the largest cultural facility under construction in Aba Prefecture, which administers Maoxian and Wenchuan.

More than 10,000 local residents, dressed in traditional costumes, attended the ground-breaking ceremony.