I’ve just returned from a short trip to parts of Sichuan province that were jolted by a cataclysmic earthquake back in May.
One of the first things that one sees in driving around the area north of Chengdu are the vast compounds of temporary housing.
I’ve been in plenty of post-disaster situations before, ranging from hurricane-hit areas of the Caribbean to quake disaster zones in South America and post-tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka. I must say China is doing better than all of them.
The temporary housing areas are a thing of beauty: neat rows of sturdy white and red housing, well-organized with raised walkways and functioning drainage.
These aren’t small either. One camp we visited held 40,000 people.
Of the two housing sites we visited, all of the housing had raised concrete foundations with watertight seals along the lower walls. It’s wet down in Sichuan now but the camps had minimal mud. Each housing unit has a covered porch area and several windows. Communal latrines service rows of housing.
The photo above shows a school at one temporary housing compound near Hanwang. All the buildings (housing and school) are the same basic structure, with public lighting.
There’s lots of mumbling among quake victims about when they’ll move back into permanent homes. But I dare say that for some of them, the temporary housing is the best housing they’ve ever lived in.
It certainly looked better than some of the shacks along rice paddies that we visited near Mianzhu and close to Shifang. In one place, I had to relieve myself so I went into the latrine. Halfway through my business, I heard the deep snorts of the pigs on the other side of the drainage canal running from the latrine. It gave me a start. Uggh. Chinese pigs feast on human waste in many parts of rural China, and it’s why I try to stay away from pork. I always see pigs near outhouses wherever I go in rural China.
Pass the tofu, please.
I've been wondering what happened to all of the temporary tents which were ordered en mass and used immediately after the quake. Now that they have a more "permanent" temporary housing, are these tents still being used?
I wouldn't be surprised if they are being stored for the possibility of a later use, but I never saw whether their quality would hold up to more than one use anyway.
Posted by: Josh | September 11, 2008 at 05:26 AM
Well, I've never heard of "mad pig disease".
Posted by: Doctor Jay | September 11, 2008 at 10:33 AM
dude ... Lucky for me I am a Muslim...
Posted by: Sparkle | September 11, 2008 at 01:56 PM
This sounds like it beats FEMA trailers.
Can the US contract out to China for Hurricane / Disaster relief?
Posted by: A B | September 11, 2008 at 10:44 PM
Hello Tim,
I am a Chinese American who came to the US in 1985.
Tim wrote "I’ve been in plenty of post-disaster situations before, ranging from hurricane-hit areas of the Caribbean to quake disaster zones in South America and post-tsunami reconstruction in Sri Lanka. I must say China is doing better than all of them."
Here is my peice of advice to you: until you really undertand the Chinese people and culture, keep your mouth shut and learn. Why don't compare it with Katrina, asshole? Excume my Frech, I can't helpt it.
Posted by: A Chinse America | September 13, 2008 at 10:13 PM
Me thinks "A Chinse" need to wash its keyboard out with soap.
Or maybe it is just a case that its brain need to be occasionally connected to the hands doing the typing.
Twenty years and still can't even spell... the American education and social system must have had no impact on it.
So don't worry too much about these things... Tim... it is probably someone from some backward minority tribe in China making these remarks.
Probably a Tibetan-Chinese exile who thinks they are all misunderstood and still angry at being cut off the CIA payroll after they got a green card.
Posted by: A B | September 14, 2008 at 12:10 AM
I am sure that "chinse American" isn't Tibetan. He is more likely a filthy Han scum who came to the U.S for all the benefits and still is in love "the motherland" and their commie govt. Twenty years in the U.S and his commie brainwashing hasn't worn off yet. What a shame.
Posted by: johnny justice | September 15, 2008 at 05:02 AM
The Chinese character 家 (home) depicts a roof, with a pig underneath, representing the arrangements that existed traditionally: the pigs used to stay beneath the house (which was presumably on stilts) and acted as scavengers of human waste...
Posted by: Shijieren | September 16, 2008 at 06:49 AM
I don't see where that "Chinese American" is coming from. I wish they would elaborate their angered stance, because as of right now I don't know what they're angry about. By otherwise the temp housing sure look fancy.
I was here during the California Firestorm; people were living in stadiums and such but it wasn't as crazy as Katrina. I think the locals did pretty well.
But as far as temporary housing and relief for the quake victims, they beat any relief effort I have seen here in the States for sure.
The temp housing in the pictures seem to rival in quality the shacks they educate some of our children in at the local schools here in California.
Posted by: Junhui | September 17, 2008 at 11:50 PM
A few years ago, after devastating floods that destroyed thousands of homes, the Chinese government said they would rebuild those homes within one year. They met that goal ahead of time. These are not cardboard shacks, but rather brick and mortar homes.
They also stated a few weeks ago that they would rebuild the quake damaged areas to pre-quake or better conditions within 3 years. I have no doubt they will meet that goal.
My point is, 3 years after Katrina, much of New Orleans is still unlivable.
Why is it that we allow a third world country to upstage us? The reason is simple, we have lost sight of the people and now its the bottom line, money and doing just enough to keep the people complacent.
I know, I am a transplanted American living in the heart of China and this country ceases to amaze me.
Sure it's got a lot of problems (what country doesn't) but if we'd take a blinders off and stop thinking our stuff doesn't stink, we could learn a lot from this country that is far older and wiser then we are.
Peace
James Blix
.
Posted by: James Blix | September 18, 2008 at 09:10 AM