By staff reporters Li Hujun, Wang Heyan and Chenzhong Xiaolu, and intern reporter Lan Fang

Related Pictures: Rising from the Rubble 
Related Article: At the Epicenter, an Urge to Love and Live, Part 1

(Caijing.com.cn) Temporary houses were built for quake survivors in downtown Yingxiu. Shops, restaurants and even hotels have gradually reopened.

The town, only a few kilometers from the epicenter of the 2008 disaster, is coming back. A rebuilt downtown on 74 hectares is being planned for 5,700 including Qiang, Tibetan and Han people. The Sichuan Province government approved the 2 billion yuan reconstruction plan in April.

Engineers from the Dongguan branch of the Beijing General Municipal Engineering Design and Research Institute are now in charge of layout plans for underground pipes and cables. International architects have been invited to bid. Construction was to start May 12 on a series of township projects. The first was Yingxiu Primary School.

Townspeople also want to know when they'll be able to move into new, permanent homes. But rebuilding will be difficult. Safe, stable land is almost nonexistent. All the construction must stay clear of a surface rupture that opened during the quake.

Safety is a top concern for rebuilding Yingxiu. According to the town blueprint, new quake-proof technologies and materials will be used for residential and public buildings. Structures are supposed to be able to withstand even strong shockwaves.

Some geologists hope the revived town will one day become a center for international exchange focusing on preventing geological hazards. The local economy could benefit from scientific research activities as well.

The blueprint for Yingxiu calls for preserving earthquake ruins and building memorials to create a major tourism attraction, boosting local incomes. Yang Mingtao, deputy director of the Yingxiu Town Industrial and Commerce Administration, said 2 million tourists are expected to stop in Yingxiu this year, generating 400 million yuan in local revenue. Memorial and tourism functions will be integrated through the work of the Chinese Academy of Engineering's He Jingtang and her design team.

Life is changing in Yingxiu. Quiet used to settle over the sleepy town at 9 p.m. Now, those living in temporary housing socialize more often. Some talk and drink deep into the night.

New Homes

Although home-building plans are still only on paper, new farm homes in villages outside Yingxiu's center are taking shape. One of the fastest to emerge from the rubble is the village of Huangjiayuan, a dozen kilometers from downtown Yingxiu.

Huangjiayuan is on a slope, across the Min River from the town of Xuankou. Twenty of the village's 400 residents died in the earthquake, although 19 victims were outside Huangjiayuan when the temblor hit.

Most of the village's old, unattractive wooden houses withstood the test. As a result, many locals prefer wood over concrete and brick construction. For one thing, wooden homes cost less to build (about 500 yuan per square meter). Village head Zhang Jingping supports building with wood, which he chose for his new, 100-square-meter, five-room cottage.

Others decided to rebuild with brick and concrete, as well as reinforcements such as tie beams and columns. Some villagers want to build homes on their own. They can use sample designs and layouts provided by the local government. And they are entitled to government subsidies. A household with up to three people can get 16,000 yuan, while those with four or five are eligible for 19,000 yuan, and a household with six or more can receive 22,000 yuan. Households with special needs get an extra 4,000 yuan. Additionally, each household can get a loan for up to 20,000 yuan, and receives a 12,000 yuan reward after a construction project is completed.

Whatever home style they choose, locals put safety first. And they haven't dawdled. By February, more than half of Huangjiayuan's villagers had moved into new cottages. And each household received two fire extinguishers from the township government, just in case.

Leadership Issues

Home reconstruction is a universal concern. So is fairness, which has come into play during the processes of transferring and requisitioning land, and when housing subsidy eligibility is at stake.

Post-quake leaders at the grassroots level, such as village chiefs, have been entrusted with unprecedented power. They were made responsible for identifying households that qualify for subsidies, distributing government allocations and charity donations, and managing collectively owned land.

Some of these leaders have become more dedicated. They take full advantage of their positions to bring benefits to fellow villagers. But abuse of power may surface if supervision and transparency in accounting are lacking.

Against this backdrop, more villagers have become more involved in issues in which they never had a say in the past. They've come to realize their rights, and that their personal interests are at stake. Thus, relations between villagers and their leaders are more delicate.

Some of the 1,000 residents of Zhongtanbao -- the most populous village in Yingxiu -- complain about their village chief Yang Yunbin. They say he lives 30 kilometers away in Dujiangyan and is seldom seen at the village administration office. Yang posted his mobile phone number on the office's outside walls, but he's hard to reach.

Many issues remain to be discussed and decided. One is land distribution. Since the Toudaoqiao section of Zhongtanbao likely will be transformed into an earthquake memorial site, and it's too dangerous to build new houses on former house sites, the village faces a severe housing shortage. The township government opted for unified planning, and decided to require requisitioning for all village land. Some villagers, especially those with more land than others, have been reluctant to give up property, even though they may see no way out.

Another controversy revolves around building materials and style. The village administration proposed a uniform, light steel structure for all new houses. But some opposed, saying they'd prefer to build their own.

A problem is that Zhongtanbao villagers can't find anyone at the government level to speak for them. Some now regret the way they voted in past local elections.

Things are different in the village of Yuzixi. Here, villagers can hash out issues at public meetings. They tackled a debate over light-steel or brick-and-concrete housing construction, for example. Groups took opposite sides. So local officials organized an inspection tour of light steel houses in Dujiangyan for 40 villagers, who say they have a right to make informed decisions about rebuilding their homes.

Livelihoods

Yingxiu is a traffic hub for Aba prefecture and a gateway for tourists traveling south from Chengdu to scenic sites such as Jiuzhaigou, Nine Village Valley and Wolong Panda Reserve. It also attracts visitors from surrounding cities who like to spend clean-air weekends in Yingxiu, where shops and entertainment stays open past midnight.

Decades of development and road building ate up at least 80 percent of what had been farmland in Zhongtanbao. Now, few villagers farm for a living. Some have jobs transporting cargo, earning 10,000 to 30,000 yuan a year by driving heavy trucks or other vehicles. Some opened restaurants, tourist cottages or KTVs. Still others work in the leisure industry.

According to Dong Yili, a former Zhongtanbao village chief and delegate to the Wenchuan County People's Congress, 2007 per capita income in the village was nearly 4,000 yuan. That allowed most villagers to build new houses. The more affluent bought houses in Dujiangyan.

Everything changed after the earthquake. Cai Daimin, Yingxiu's deputy party secretary, said several hundred town residents have been hired for civil service jobs in public security, traffic control, heath care and geological services. Still, many are jobless. Cai said a top priority for local government is to help people find the means to survive.

Nevertheless, it's evident from the crowded marketplaces around the temporary housing that local business is getting back to normal. New restaurants and hostels have opened in some houses, and business is booming.

In general, every four-member family is allocated two rooms. Water, electricity and bedding are provided by the government. Some rent space by the month. Visitors pay up to 30 yuan a night, although prices rose as the anniversary of the disaster approached.

Many entrepreneurs are from Zhongtanbao, including Yang Yunbing. Locally famous for business acumen, he was in the wood business for years. Yang also ran a fish restaurant, sand plant and tourist cottages. And he opened a new restaurant in February near a main road in the temporary housing area, calling it the Epicenter Restaurant. Business is so good that a Chengdu tourist agency contacted Yang about making the eatery a destination for organized groups.

The owner of a small shop at the edge of downtown Yingxiu hung a banner declaring that it was visited by Premier Wen Jiabao, and that the premier said the shop not only improves people's lives but also takes some burden off the government. The shop, the size of a temporary house, is well stocked with ordinary goods, priced fairly.

Pool halls stay open until the wee hours, and Internet game rooms never close for the crowds of young people. Wireless Internet surfing is available at a tea house called Yingxiu Impression.

The living are slowly laying to rest the worst memories of May 12, 2008.

1 yuan = 14 U.S. cents