How earthquake offers us a new lease on life

Living in a city rocked by last May's earthquake, I thought the festivities for the 2009 festival would be subdued. But the opposite happened. It became hard to find an empty taxi and the restaurants were so packed that unless one booked a table, chances were that there would be no empty table. These observations were confirmed by a friend of mine who told me that his restaurant made a record profit in the month encompassing the 2009 Spring Festival.

It's a trend that was repeated all across Sichuan: statistics now show that people spent substantially more during this year's festival than any other before. I've heard people say they're sick of eating out and drinking.

A taxi driver in Chengdu told me last week that his teacher friends in Dujiangyan have spent money galore this year. Some bought new cars; in Dujiangyan, according to the taxi driver, car yards ran out of vehicles last month.