Feature: Restless recovery on post-quake Sichuan

Source: Xinhua | 04-12-2009 15:07

BEIJING, April 12 (Xinhua) -- Liu Daihe, 43, lights a cigarette passed by his cousin Liu Daishu and spreads the mahjong tiles over the table. Puffing smoke into the 20-square-meter temporary house, he settles down to idle away another day with friends and relatives.

It is a typical snapshot on the 11,000-household interim community to the north of Mianzhu, one of the most damaged cities of the May 12 earthquake that left more than 80,000 Chinese dead or missing. Liu and the 40,000 inhabitants are enveloped in an atmosphere of both hope and ennui that contrasts with a clearly felt grief eight months ago.

Demands of life

Before the catastrophe, Liu was a phosphorous miner for many years at Qingping town of Mianzhu. But the mine, one of the local pillar industries, was swallowed by the quake along with Liu's job.

As the breadwinner of the family, Liu looked for jobs elsewhere, but was turned down because of his age. "I'm not competitive on the market. More importantly, I don't have technical skills, except from doing hard labor in the pit."

The assistance is also dwindling. Last year, the government handed out 200 yuan per person a month for eight months and 33.5 kilograms of grain per head for three months, but all the financial and material support ended in January, says Liu. "Nowadays, around 15 percent of the people in the community live on what they had before," his cousin says.