From ashes to riches:

Shuimo rises like the phoenix

By Indunil THENUWARA following a tour of China

Shuimo, China: Clean and neat cobbled streets, well-manicured gardens, shopkeepers trying to attract customers to their well-stocked stores, a myriad of restaurants with heavenly smells of food wafting in the air... a typical village, one might guess.

But then, this is not just another village. It is a village that has revived itself and whose residents have rejuvenated their lives, after a devastating earthquake just two years ago.

I was visiting this village as part of a tour organised by China’s Xinhua News Agency under the aegis of the World Media Summit.

Seeing the beautiful village of Shuimo and walking down its busy streets, it was difficult for me to imagine that this village was reduced to rubble as recently as two years ago.

However, this is exactly what happened on May 12, 2008 during the famous Sichuan earthquake. Shuimo was completely destroyed during this natural disaster which struck China’s Sichuan Province. Although the number of lives lost in this village was only 250, almost every single house in the village as well the villagers’ livelihoods were completely destroyed. It is located just 10km away from the earthquake epicentre of Yingxiu.

The busy but tidy streets of the village

A traditional archway

Shuimo, which is 3,000 sq.km in land mass, is located in the Wenchuan county in the Sichuan Province, in the south west of China. It’s about 76km away from Chengdu, the main city of this province, and is spread along the picturesque Mt. Qingcheng.

The rehabilitation and reconstruction work, which commenced in August 2008, is now complete and the town provides better housing and all other facilities than it did during the pre-earthquake era. The houses are built of wood according to an environment-friendly design and have been reconstructed with the help of many parties including the security forces. The city of Foshan, which had provided a rescue team during the early stages, was one of the main participants in the reconstruction drive.

The total cost of construction was around 1.8 billion yuan with financial support coming from many sources including government parties.

Earlier the village was heavily polluted due to massive industrialisation; over 60 factories emitting dust and dirt had operated in the village. Now the air is clean and fresh and easy to breathe.

The villagers are now mainly dependent on tourism-oriented businesses whereas a lot of industrial ventures providing job opportunities had existed in Shuimo before the earthquake. After the disaster, about 60 of those ventures shifted elsewhere, our guide explained.

The beautiful village has a lake, Shouxi, which divides the village into two - north and south. The lake itself is quite an attraction as it comprises inner and outer lakes; one remains calm while the other flows on. There is almost an invisible line demarcating the two areas, though how this has happened is not very clear.

Residential buildings

The water mill

Shuimo is divided into four regions - one devoted to tourism, one for residential purposes, one for education while the other region is multi-functional. It is rich in water resources and relies on hydropower for most of its energy. A mill which is powered by water and which is used to grind food was another feature in the village.

After the earthquake, despite the number of deaths being less than in some other areas of the Wenchuan county, some residents who preferred to move out were relocated. Now Shuimo is home to about 10,000 permanent residents. Most of them serve as shopkeepers, hotel managers and restaurateurs and manage their businesses after receiving training from experts. They now run small hotels and restaurants or sell handicraft. The economic recovery in the area is complete and astounding.

When we visited, a lot of residents as well as tourists mostly from other parts of China had gathered around a Buddhist pavilion which seemed to be a prominent landmark in the area. The structure made in the centre of the pavilion was 6.8 metres high and comprised a moon and star on top. The structure was in white, symbolising purity, and encloserd a golden Buddha statue. The pavilion denotes harmony among the many ethnic communities, as our guide explained.

Shuimo’s architectural features give prominence to the Qiang and Tibetan ethnic minorities. They have been elegantly combined with elements of the Hun dynasty with the intention of attracting local tourists. The yellow and red buildings are examples of these ethnic styles and enhance the scenery among other white-walled and black-tiled buildings. The town’s history has been taken into account during the reconstruction process and is apparent along with the balance of ecological elements.

The Spring Pavilion

Wenchuan is one of four counties where the ethnic minority Qiang is prevalent, thus the prominence given to that ethnicity. The Spring Breeze Pavilion stands foremost as a reminder of the days gone by. This, along with Harmony Plaza and Changshou Old Street are important aspects of the village. Shuimo has risen from the rubble like a phoenix from the ashes. It bears no signs whatsoever of the massive devastation which it experienced two years ago. In fact, it is actually more developed and prosperous than the village which had stood there before the disaster and is now projecting itself as a cultural and tourism centre which is also livable.

It was due to these reasons that the village was recognised by the Global Forum on Human Settlements as the World’s Best Example of Post-Disaster Reconstruction for 2010.

Today, Shuimo stands tall and proud as an example of the human will to rise above all barriers, natural or man-made. It shows the whole world that nothing is impossible if only one focuses the mind on achieving one’s goal.