Temblor's deathly shadow finally exorcised

Five years after the devastating Wenchuan earthquake, survivors have rebuilt their lives, reports Erik Nilsson.

On Thursday, Tomb Sweeping Day, for the first time Hongbai Primary School did not organize visits to the graves of students and teachers who died in the Wenchuan earthquake. It has been five years since the disaster killed 159 children and eight teachers at the school and left about 90,000 dead or missing in Sichuan province. "It's time to move on," Principal Chen Shilin said.

"On the first Qingmingjie (Tomb Sweeping Day), we went to the graves and sobbed. We planted a tree and laid a floral wreath in front of every student's headstone. Every year since, we've been less ceremonial."

This year, the school instead took students to a war martyrs' cemetery. Students and staff members can visit the quake graves on their own, Chen said.

"The disaster's shadow has finally left," Chen said.

The temblor's pall has been scrubbed away by years of therapy, volunteer projects and government-funded reconstruction.

Huaxin Hospital experts tested Hongbai's children last year and found trauma levels have become "negligible", Chen said.

Experts from the hospital and the Hong Kong Federation of Youth Groups counseled the children and trained teachers. Sichuan University volunteers and the primary school students exchanged essays about the meaning of life.

And such organizations as Small Hand, Big Hand and Low-Income Visionary Education helped, too. "The children know that people from all walks of life love and care about them," Chen said.

But while all students have recovered, some teachers still grapple with depression, Chen said.

"Perhaps adults have longer memories."

Chen said the children's recovery gives him solace.

"None of our children graduated with trauma," Chen said.

"So I'm content. I can let out a huge sigh of relief."

The first graders at the time of the quake are now sixth graders. The others have gone on to junior and senior high schools.

A huge part of the emotional recovery came from tai chi, Chen said. The martial art's practice is part of the quake's legacy that has spread from the school to the community.

"We needed to restore mental stability," Chen said.

"We tried other sports but found only tai chi worked. It makes people slower, calmer, quieter."

A master from Deyang city came to instruct the teachers and students.

"We introduced it to help the students overcome trauma but found it did so much for their bodies and minds that we've continued it as a required course," Chen said.

"It's both exercise and a cultural backdrop. Our kids teach grannies."

Hongbai town's Party secretary Huang Zhuo says cultural activities, such as tai chi, are integral to the recovery, much of which has relied on tourism.

"We need culture to build our travel industry," he said.

He also asks locals to study calligraphy.

Ultimately, Hongbai's reconstruction and development isn't solely the task of officials, Huang believes.

"Reconstruction requires work from both the government and ordinary citizens," he said.

"Hongbai's people have done their part. There's no trace of the quake. Our town is more beautiful than ever. People are hopeful."

While Hongbai's primary school students won't pay an official visit to the quake graves this year, Huang and another official will lay a flower wreath.

"We haven't told anyone else because we want to keep it low-key," he said.

"It would be disrespectful to make it a flashy ceremony with a lot of officials."

Many employees from Dongfang Turbine Co Ltd planned to travel from the new factory built in Sichuan's Bajiao town to the site of the destroyed factory in Hanwang on Tomb Sweeping Day.

Technician Li Zhongyu used to return to his native Hubei province during Tomb Sweeping Day to visit his father's grave but has spent the festivals in Hanwang since the quake.

"I lost a lot of colleagues and friends," he said. "I want to commemorate them."

Much has changed for Li and his coworkers since that day when he saw part of the factory explode and went searching the ruins for his girlfriend in Hanwang town.

The 29-year-old Hubei native married her last year. She now stays in their new home in Bajiao, caring for their newborn son.

Dongfang crane operator Wen Rui will also spend Tomb Sweeping Festival in Hanwang, rather than her hometown, Sichuan's capital Chengdu.

"I'll honor those people I knew who didn't make it," the 38-year-old said.

Surviving the quake and relocating to Bajiao has transformed Wen's life.

Her salary has more than doubled to about 3,000 yuan a month, and the factory is more advanced, she said.

"The big city brings new conveniences but also demands," she said.

Her 15-year-old daughter's education has been her greatest concern.

But the girl's informal learning experiences are broader, Deng explained.

"Here, we can have a car and take our daughter around on weekends," Wen said.

"The city offers more to stimulate her development. She can go to more places, meet more people, see more things. It expands her horizons."

Despite drawbacks, her new life is better than before the disaster.

"Aside from the deaths, the quake is a great thing for people here," Wen said.

Zhao Kaisheng, an official from 5.12 Wenchuan Earthquake Memorial Museum, put it this way: "Up to 30 years of development were compressed into five. The quake brought so much investment. Our roads and houses couldn't have otherwise modernized so fast."

A museum recently opened in Hanwang, near Dongfang's factory ruins. It is built beneath an iconic clock tower frozen at 2:28, the moment the Wenchuan earthquake struck.

It is frozen in time. But life tells a different story.

Hanwang resident Jiang Mei says much has changed for her family since the day of the quake, when she sprinted to her 9-year-old daughter's kindergarten.

"Life's better than before the quake," the 36-year-old said.

"We cried then. Now, we're thankful for what we have. My heart is full of love."

She is thankful to have a new home after spending the first night in a tent in the rain.

"Not only do we have a house but we also have electronic appliances," she said.

But the changes haven't merely been material.

"The disaster showed we should teach our daughter to love and help others and be grateful for the help she receives," Jiang said.

"The disaster showed me we should all live this way. Our town learned this lesson."

She said survivors are more charitable and courteous. They are more likely to give bus seats to the elderly.

"Everything is better aside from one problem," Jiang said.

"My husband works as a migrant because there's no major company here. It would be nice if we could live and work together."

She said this while sitting beneath her wedding portrait and holding their daughter's hand.

Jiang is thankful her daughter has never remembered that day.

Chen is grateful his students have since forgotten.

The principal explained the past five years of helping the children recover have helped him, too.

"I'm more upbeat," he said.

"I rarely lose my temper. I've matured. I've found peace. The quake taught me to value life and stay positive."

Huang Zhiling and Cao Huan contributed to the story.

Contact the writer at erik_nilsson@chinadaily.com.cn.

(China Daily 04/06/2013 page7)