Under the sheep horns
0 
|
|
|
Yongchang, a rebuilt Beichuan county. |
|
|
|
Handmade Qiang embroidery. Photos: Cai Kai |
On May 12, 2010, Beichuan, a peaceful county in Southwest China's Sichuan Province, was reduced to ruins in a moment. Today, the survivors have started a new life in a rebuilt Beichuan. Due to its positioning on a geological fault line, the original site has been abandoned and the county seat, Yongchang, rebuilt elsewhere.
Beichuan is China's only autonomous county for the mountain-dwelling ethnic Qiang people. Before the quake, 300,000 Qiang lived there. The county was one of the worst-hit areas during the earthquake, with more than 15,000 people killed and 4,000 missing.
A grand opening ceremony for the new town was held on February 1. As in so many ethnic occasions in China, the Qiang sung and danced, celebrating new homes for more than 7,000 families and their first Spring Festival in the rebuilt Yongchang.
Yongchang is about 23 kilometers from the former county seat, and 40 kilometeres away from the transport hub of Mianyang.
The Qiang hold ceremonies whenever a new site is completed, but this one, held on the Yuwang Bridge over the Anchang River, was watched by more than 30,000 locals and visitors. More than 400,000 tourists visited the new Beichuan over the Spring Festival holiday, drawn both by sympathy for the earthquake victims and by the town's new shopping streets and Qiang-style architecture.
Developing tourism
"People were curious, because everything is new here," Zhang Yunzhen, the deputy director of the Culture and Tourism Department of the Beichuan Qiang autonomous county, told the Global Times.
"We have not done any publicity yet, but so many tourists came that many of us had to work during the holiday to keep order."
Yuwang Bridge, named after Dayu, the legendary founder of the Xia Dynasty (2100-1600 BC), is one of the 10 key constructions of the new Beichuan, along with the Beichuan Middle School and Beichuan Qiang Folk Museum. Beichuan is believed to be Dayu's birthplace.
Yuwang Bridge is grand in size but delicate in detail, spanning the Anchang River along with three other bridges. The two-floor Qiang style bridge features the diaolou design, a phallic structure that characterizes Qiang stone erections.
Under the bridge, a square agate sign is marked as Beichuan Banaqia, which in the Qiang language means "marketplace." A shopping street for traditional Qiang goods is set to open there later this year.
The construction of the county has almost been finished, according to Zhang, but as tourism and industries are still under development, the city has not made much money out of tourism so far.
"People just came here to walk around and take pictures. At most they can dine at a few restaurants or buy some snacks on the street."
The shopping street is planned to have around 200 stores, and is expected to open before May 12 this year, Zhang said. It will be the county's chief tourist site, and traditional Qiang businesses will be given priority.
Ren Jing, a local Qiang, is applying to open a store on the street. She is planning to hire locals and run a store that makes Qiang embroidery and costumes, hoping to pass on the two most important traditional skills of the Qiang.
Ren, an easy-talking and friendly mother of a teenage son, lost all her best friends during the earthquake. She survived as she was outside the county doing business that day.
"Many elderly Qiang women know how to make Qiang embroidery and costumes," she told the Global Times. "But few young people are interested now."
Go to Forum >>0 Comments