Buwazhai Rises Again From Quake Debris -- Beijing Review

Buwazhai Village is located in Weizhou Town on the west bank of the Minjiang River in Wenchuan County, west China's Sichuan Province. The village was among the areas most affected by the devastating 8.0-magnitude earthquake that occurred on May 12, 2008, which left nearly 80,000 people dead and millions homeless.

The Chinese Government assigned Guangzhou City in south China's Guangdong Province to help rebuild Buwazhai after the disaster. Over the past year, a Guangzhou construction aid team has completed all road and housing projects, including 117 new houses and 40 repaired houses for local villagers. The three 2,000-year-old Qiang towers known as "China's last yellow soil tower group," which were damaged in the earthquake to different degrees, are currently under repair.

Buwa means "people living in the clouds" in the Qiang language, since villagers in Buwazhai built their dwellings in the mountains at an altitude of 2,170 meters, where they had a bird's-eye view of the seat of Wenchuan County, epicenter of the quake.

A Qiang woman named Wang Shixiang invited reporters from the China International Publishing Group to visit her home when she saw them on January 22.

"There were few casualties in the village because most villagers were working in the fields when the quake occurred," she said. "But my old house was damaged, and the pigs I fed were crushed to death by falling walls. Now I'm so happy because the government repaired my house and sent me rice, flour, and edible oil, so that we are able to have a very pleasant holiday in the coming Spring Festival."

Damaged roads have been replaced by new roads leading to all alleyways in the village, and the ground has been covered with bricks. The construction has also been funded by donations generously offered by overseas compatriots.

The new Buwazhai will attract more visitors with its special cultural features.

Home of Qiang woman Wang Shixiang (ZHAO XI)