China Focus

Restaurant is home away from home for Chinese survivors

By Chen Weihua and Huo Yongzhe (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-01-25 09:43

PORT-AU-PRINCE: Jiang Dianwei, 37, flew to Haiti from Beijing a few months ago. He had a temporary job in a supermarket while looking for better paying jobs elsewhere.

But the earthquake on January 12 changed all that, and he found himself homeless and scared of the gun shots he could hear.

"The street is chaotic and I cannot even understand the language," said Jiang, who came to Port-au-Prince with five of his friends from Fuzhou, Fujian province.

Nan Shaoqing, a 30-year-old woman, also became desperate after the place where she was staying was destroyed.

However, help was at hand as China's foreign ministry had already arranged a temporary shelter in the Wujiayuan Restaurant in Petionville, an upper-class neighborhood in Port-au-Prince.

Arriving at the only Chinese restaurant in the Haitian capital, they were warmly greeted by Wu Yiqing, owner of the restaurant.

Wu was soon host to over 30 Chinese who arrived at her restaurant seeking refuge. That night she told her chef to cook fried rice for the dozens of new arrivals, some of whom hadn't eaten a proper meal for days.

Due to the water shortage Wu was unable to let people have a shower that first day, but she managed to pay several times the price to get a tank of water the following day and everyone enjoyed a quick shower.

For Liu Zhensheng, Wu's business partner, and manager of Beijing Shengnuodi Fashion Co Ltd, his arrival in Port-au-Prince on January 9 was just the start of a normal business trip. But the earthquake totally changed his mission.

On Friday, Wu and Liu arranged for their 35 guests to join the kitchen staff in making jiaozi dumplings. "Since life is a bit boring after the quake, making dumpling is a fun group activity to get everyone involved," said Wu.

Representatives from the Chinese foreign ministry who came to Haiti after the earthquake have visited the restaurant a couple of times with food and water and reassured everyone of their safety.

On Saturday, Cai Wei, an official from the Chinese foreign ministry, went to the restaurant and told everyone that for those who want to be voluntarily evacuated, there will be a plane coming from Beijing in the coming days. Smiles could be seen all around after Cai's words.

Wu will go to Beijing in the coming days with some of her staff and the 35 Chinese to whom she has extended her help. "But I will return to Port-au-Prince as soon as the situation starts to return to normal," she said.

Meanwhile, the beneficiaries of her hospitality expressed their deep gratitude to Wu Yiqing. "Big Sister Wu treats us like a family member, feeds us and gives us a decent place to stay," said Jiang Dianwei, from Fujian.