Tourist village recovering from quake
Print Edition
Power and water supplies have been restored in the village of Zhangzha after the 7.0-magnitude quake that struck Jiuzhaigou County in southwest China’s Sichuan Province last Tuesday.
Zhangzha is just a few kilometers from the entrance to the Jiuzhaigou tourist resort. Most of its 746 villagers rely on tourism for their livelihood.
Phata, 62, who is of Tibetan ethnicity, had earned a good income by renting five rooms in his house and running a hostel with his two sons. That was until the earthquake hit, leaving 24 people dead and hundreds of others injured.
“The walls were all cracked and the tourists huddled in the yard crying as rocks kept tumbling down the mountain,” he recalled. “Luckily, my family members were all safe.”
As constant aftershocks struck the area, Phata and his fellow villagers stayed up on the first night comforting the tourists.
More than 60,000 tourists had been evacuated by the next evening, the same day tents were delivered to the village.
“Now that we have shelter, we need to think about how we can move on,” he said.
After the quake, a couple who had rented Phata’s house to run a restaurant, left the village. “Before they left, they told me to distribute the meat, vegetables and eggs in their restaurant to the villagers.”
Villagers stood in line to get food, mattresses and quilts out of houses that could have collapsed at any minute.
While most of the villagers slept in tents, Phata sat up looking at the mountain, for fear of further collapse.
His cousin, Taktrugta, volunteered to join young people who were patrolling at night.
The village had just built a street featuring Tibetan culture, and its shops were due to open soon. The quake turned the street into a mess.
“This street was supposed to be a 2.0 version of our village,” Taktrugta, 63, said. “But I believe, with the help of the government and the public, we will strive to build a better 3.0 version.”
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