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| 4 Years After Quake, Some See a Resurrected Chinese City, Others Dashed Dreams | 4 Years After Quake, Some See a Resurrected Chinese City, Others Dashed Dreams |
| (34 minutes later) | |
| YUSHU, China — Gazing out over the gleaming heart of this resurrected city, the young Buddhist monk marveled at how quickly the Chinese government had rebuilt his hometown just four years after a calamitous earthquake shattered every last building, killing at least 3,000 people and leaving more than 100,000 others homeless. | YUSHU, China — Gazing out over the gleaming heart of this resurrected city, the young Buddhist monk marveled at how quickly the Chinese government had rebuilt his hometown just four years after a calamitous earthquake shattered every last building, killing at least 3,000 people and leaving more than 100,000 others homeless. |
| In addition to thousands of new homes, dozens of schools and handsome, granite-faced government offices, the city is graced by an exuberantly modern performing arts center and a hulking Tibetan art museum fit for the cover of Architectural Digest. | In addition to thousands of new homes, dozens of schools and handsome, granite-faced government offices, the city is graced by an exuberantly modern performing arts center and a hulking Tibetan art museum fit for the cover of Architectural Digest. |
| But behind him, hugging a dusky hillside, the collection of unfinished temples and dormitories of Jiegu Monastery told a different story. The monk, who like many Tibetans goes by a single name, Jamyang, said Chinese construction crews disappeared one day last September after money for the monastery’s reconstruction dried up. With the authorities largely unresponsive, hundreds of monks and nuns resigned themselves to living in the bright blue disaster relief tents that arrived in the weeks after the quake struck on April 14, 2010. | But behind him, hugging a dusky hillside, the collection of unfinished temples and dormitories of Jiegu Monastery told a different story. The monk, who like many Tibetans goes by a single name, Jamyang, said Chinese construction crews disappeared one day last September after money for the monastery’s reconstruction dried up. With the authorities largely unresponsive, hundreds of monks and nuns resigned themselves to living in the bright blue disaster relief tents that arrived in the weeks after the quake struck on April 14, 2010. |
| “The government solved the immediate needs of sleeping and eating, but we hope they can finish the job they started,” said Jamyang, 27, who has lived at the hilltop monastery since he was a boy. “There are some people feeling neglected.” | “The government solved the immediate needs of sleeping and eating, but we hope they can finish the job they started,” said Jamyang, 27, who has lived at the hilltop monastery since he was a boy. “There are some people feeling neglected.” |
| Natural disasters can challenge even the most capable and affluent of nations, but the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that flattened this geographically isolated trading hub has tested the Chinese government’s ability to marshal labor and construction supplies in one of the world’s most inhospitable places. Perched at more than 12,000 feet on the Tibetan plateau and battered by long, punishing winters, Yushu is a 17-hour drive from the nearest city of any significance, Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai. Those not felled by altitude sickness en route are often incapacitated, albeit briefly, soon after they arrive. | Natural disasters can challenge even the most capable and affluent of nations, but the 7.1-magnitude earthquake that flattened this geographically isolated trading hub has tested the Chinese government’s ability to marshal labor and construction supplies in one of the world’s most inhospitable places. Perched at more than 12,000 feet on the Tibetan plateau and battered by long, punishing winters, Yushu is a 17-hour drive from the nearest city of any significance, Xining, the provincial capital of Qinghai. Those not felled by altitude sickness en route are often incapacitated, albeit briefly, soon after they arrive. |
| Beijing has spent $7.2 billion on the city’s reconstruction so far, according to the state news media, relying on 100,000 contract workers to clear debris, lay waterlines and build new houses and high-rise apartment blocks that have been trimmed with colorful Tibetan flourishes. Given that most of the victims were ethnic Tibetans — Yushu Prefecture is 97 percent Tibetan — the disaster provided Chinese leaders an opportunity to show its munificent side to a citizenry often at odds with its Han-dominated government. | Beijing has spent $7.2 billion on the city’s reconstruction so far, according to the state news media, relying on 100,000 contract workers to clear debris, lay waterlines and build new houses and high-rise apartment blocks that have been trimmed with colorful Tibetan flourishes. Given that most of the victims were ethnic Tibetans — Yushu Prefecture is 97 percent Tibetan — the disaster provided Chinese leaders an opportunity to show its munificent side to a citizenry often at odds with its Han-dominated government. |
| But the largess has inadvertently aggravated the animosities that have long bedeviled Han-Tibetan relations, and the reconstruction’s systemic corruption has favored the well connected over the disenfranchised. | But the largess has inadvertently aggravated the animosities that have long bedeviled Han-Tibetan relations, and the reconstruction’s systemic corruption has favored the well connected over the disenfranchised. |
| In interviews over four days last month, many Yushu residents were especially vocal about inequities in the distribution of new housing. Government employees and Communist Party members, many said, had ended up with several new apartments each, while ordinary households with up to a dozen family members were squeezed into cramped, three-room apartments. | In interviews over four days last month, many Yushu residents were especially vocal about inequities in the distribution of new housing. Government employees and Communist Party members, many said, had ended up with several new apartments each, while ordinary households with up to a dozen family members were squeezed into cramped, three-room apartments. |
| “The tragedy of the earthquake became an opportunity for the powerful and the greedy,” said Kunchen Norbu, 52, a trader of semiprecious gemstones, whose neck was ringed with turquoise, amber and red coral beads, a traditional form of Tibetan currency. | “The tragedy of the earthquake became an opportunity for the powerful and the greedy,” said Kunchen Norbu, 52, a trader of semiprecious gemstones, whose neck was ringed with turquoise, amber and red coral beads, a traditional form of Tibetan currency. |
| An elderly Tibetan couple said the government had confiscated their plot of land, including 13 quake-damaged rental properties, and provided them with a single 850-square-foot home for their two children and a 10-year-old granddaughter orphaned by the disaster. “We relied on the income from those homes to support our family,” said Beizan, a retired government employee originally from Sichuan Province, adding that he lacked the political connections to fight back. “I guess we are out of luck.” | An elderly Tibetan couple said the government had confiscated their plot of land, including 13 quake-damaged rental properties, and provided them with a single 850-square-foot home for their two children and a 10-year-old granddaughter orphaned by the disaster. “We relied on the income from those homes to support our family,” said Beizan, a retired government employee originally from Sichuan Province, adding that he lacked the political connections to fight back. “I guess we are out of luck.” |
| Late last month, the authorities bulldozed several Tibetan-owned brick factories in Yushu at the behest of Han kiln owners who were reportedly unhappy with the competition, according to Radio Free Asia, the American-financed news service. | Late last month, the authorities bulldozed several Tibetan-owned brick factories in Yushu at the behest of Han kiln owners who were reportedly unhappy with the competition, according to Radio Free Asia, the American-financed news service. |
| Tibetans are not the only ones who feel shortchanged. Han business owners complain about skyrocketing rents, erratic power supplies and a dearth of customers. The tourists and businesses that residents hoped would materialize after the rebuilding have not appeared. The difficulty in luring qualified professionals to the city means that the new 400-bed Yushu Prefecture People’s Hospital is struggling to fill 600 job vacancies, according to the state-run Xinhua news service. | Tibetans are not the only ones who feel shortchanged. Han business owners complain about skyrocketing rents, erratic power supplies and a dearth of customers. The tourists and businesses that residents hoped would materialize after the rebuilding have not appeared. The difficulty in luring qualified professionals to the city means that the new 400-bed Yushu Prefecture People’s Hospital is struggling to fill 600 job vacancies, according to the state-run Xinhua news service. |
| Another common complaint, especially among downtown merchants, is the lack of public bathrooms, a planning oversight they said had turned parts of the city into open-air toilets. | Another common complaint, especially among downtown merchants, is the lack of public bathrooms, a planning oversight they said had turned parts of the city into open-air toilets. |
| In interviews, many Han business owners did not hide their animus for the city’s Tibetan residents, who they described as lazy, unhygienic and ill mannered. | In interviews, many Han business owners did not hide their animus for the city’s Tibetan residents, who they described as lazy, unhygienic and ill mannered. |
| Nie Yun, 34, a Han restaurant owner from Sichuan who moved here before the quake, complained that locals had little money to spend and were largely unappreciative of the government’s actions. “They get a free apartment but are never satisfied,” he said. “They think the Communist Party owes them.” | Nie Yun, 34, a Han restaurant owner from Sichuan who moved here before the quake, complained that locals had little money to spend and were largely unappreciative of the government’s actions. “They get a free apartment but are never satisfied,” he said. “They think the Communist Party owes them.” |
| Then there are the hundreds of laborers, plumbers and construction managers who were lured here by substantial government subsidies but were marooned after the promised money failed to materialize. The co-owner of a construction company that rebuilt 80 housing units and a Buddhist temple in Yushu said she was still waiting for more than $480,000 from the government, more than 20 percent of the cost of the construction. Local officials, she said, told her they had already distributed all the funds sent by the central government. | Then there are the hundreds of laborers, plumbers and construction managers who were lured here by substantial government subsidies but were marooned after the promised money failed to materialize. The co-owner of a construction company that rebuilt 80 housing units and a Buddhist temple in Yushu said she was still waiting for more than $480,000 from the government, more than 20 percent of the cost of the construction. Local officials, she said, told her they had already distributed all the funds sent by the central government. |
| With more than 100 of her former employees and scores of suppliers still unpaid, she lives in fear of being attacked by creditors and rarely goes outside. Having spent her savings, she works at the front desk of a newly opened hotel hoping the money will one day come through. “We answered the government’s call to come here and help the victims of the earthquake,” said the woman, who moved here from Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, and who would only give her surname, Yu. “So many people arrived wearing brand-new suits and shiny shoes, but they went home in tears and wearing rags.” | With more than 100 of her former employees and scores of suppliers still unpaid, she lives in fear of being attacked by creditors and rarely goes outside. Having spent her savings, she works at the front desk of a newly opened hotel hoping the money will one day come through. “We answered the government’s call to come here and help the victims of the earthquake,” said the woman, who moved here from Chengdu, the provincial capital of Sichuan, and who would only give her surname, Yu. “So many people arrived wearing brand-new suits and shiny shoes, but they went home in tears and wearing rags.” |
| An official at the prefectural propaganda department said he could not talk to the foreign news media. | |
| Before the earthquake, the city was a thriving trading hub for the region’s Tibetan pastoralists, but government planners have reimagined Yushu as a tourist attraction for Chinese seeking to experience the fetishized mystique of Tibetan culture. The new city is flecked with museums, although none have opened yet. | Before the earthquake, the city was a thriving trading hub for the region’s Tibetan pastoralists, but government planners have reimagined Yushu as a tourist attraction for Chinese seeking to experience the fetishized mystique of Tibetan culture. The new city is flecked with museums, although none have opened yet. |
| On the edge of the city, past banners and billboards hailing the central government’s rebuilding effort, is an earthquake memorial that features a crumpled building preserved under a glass canopy, and a Socialist-style sculpture of muscled rescue workers and grief-stricken victims. “Challenge the limits,” an inscription says. “Be grateful and strive forward.” | On the edge of the city, past banners and billboards hailing the central government’s rebuilding effort, is an earthquake memorial that features a crumpled building preserved under a glass canopy, and a Socialist-style sculpture of muscled rescue workers and grief-stricken victims. “Challenge the limits,” an inscription says. “Be grateful and strive forward.” |
| Back at the Jiegu Monastery, parts of which are thought to date from the 14th century, the monks were hesitant to criticize the government and preferred to highlight prospects for hope amid so much loss. Tenzen, one of the monastery’s chief lamas, said many city residents had become more devout and more generous to the monastery. In the hours after the quake, the crimson-robed monks were among the first to claw through the rubble looking for survivors. As hundreds of bodies were delivered to an open pavilion at the base of the monastery, the monks offered prayers for the dead and comforted the living. “People are more kind to each other now,” Tenzen said, as a group of young nuns dragged construction debris to a raging bonfire. | Back at the Jiegu Monastery, parts of which are thought to date from the 14th century, the monks were hesitant to criticize the government and preferred to highlight prospects for hope amid so much loss. Tenzen, one of the monastery’s chief lamas, said many city residents had become more devout and more generous to the monastery. In the hours after the quake, the crimson-robed monks were among the first to claw through the rubble looking for survivors. As hundreds of bodies were delivered to an open pavilion at the base of the monastery, the monks offered prayers for the dead and comforted the living. “People are more kind to each other now,” Tenzen said, as a group of young nuns dragged construction debris to a raging bonfire. |
| Jamyang, the young monk, agreed. “Having seen so much death, they realize everything they know of this earthly life will come to an end,” he said. As he stood outside the only prayer hall to survive unscathed, a Tibetan man bounded out of a Land Rover, cash in hand, to make a donation — evidence, Jamyang said, that local Tibetans were embracing Buddhism with more zeal. | Jamyang, the young monk, agreed. “Having seen so much death, they realize everything they know of this earthly life will come to an end,” he said. As he stood outside the only prayer hall to survive unscathed, a Tibetan man bounded out of a Land Rover, cash in hand, to make a donation — evidence, Jamyang said, that local Tibetans were embracing Buddhism with more zeal. |
| “It would be nice,” he said, “if the government could feel that way, too.” | “It would be nice,” he said, “if the government could feel that way, too.” |