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Newsletter: Rebirth, in the embrace of the motherland

——The miracle of reconstruction after the Wenchuan earthquake

Xinhua News Agency, Chengdu, February 1 (Xinhua News Agency) Journalists Liu Xinxin and Cong Feng) have great ambitions to make sacrifices and dare to teach the sun and the moon to change the sky. In less than two years, the Sichuan earthquake-stricken area has undergone earth-shaking changes. On the land that was once in ruins, new cities have sprung up. The sound of books in schools is loud, and the machines in workshops are roaring.

Today, when we walk through those hardest-hit areas that once made us shed tears, we can’t help but be shocked by the miracles of reconstruction one after another. What is behind the miracle?

Rebuilding the Miracle: Shocking the World

The nightmare is vague. On May 12, 2008, a sudden earthquake caused lasting pain in people's hearts: tens of millions of houses collapsed and damaged, 69,000 people were killed, roads and bridges were broken everywhere, and economic losses were as high as 20,000. More than 100 million yuan.

After the initial life rescue was over, faced with tents and prefabricated houses almost everywhere, a more serious problem faced China. Thousands of homeless people are asking: When will we have a house to live in? Hundreds of thousands of primary and secondary school students are asking: When can we go back to school? Thousands of businesses are asking, how can we resume production?

The world is also asking: When can China recover from such serious damage, five years? 10 years?

General Secretary Hu Jintao, who came for the inspection, stood on the ruins and solemnly declared to the disaster area, the country and the whole world: "No difficulty can defeat the heroic Chinese people."

No other government has such mobilization and execution capabilities. With an order from the central government, China launched the largest post-disaster assistance and reconstruction operation in history. An army of 100,000 people from 19 provinces and cities quickly rushed to the 19 hardest-hit counties in Sichuan, Gansu, and Shaanxi and opened 19 battlefields. Tens of millions of cadres and people in the disaster-stricken areas wiped away their tears, stood up tenaciously from the ruins, and joined hands with builders to rebuild their new homes.

Can you imagine that last fall, two-thirds of the 2,960 rebuilt primary and secondary schools were completed, and more than half of the primary and secondary school students have returned to the new schools to attend classes. Before New Year's Day this year, 99.8% of the more than 1.2 million farmers who need to rebuild their houses have moved into new houses. As of the end of last year, more than 27,000 projects in Sichuan's disaster-stricken areas have been included in the national overall reconstruction plan, and more than two-thirds of them have been completed; more than 550 billion yuan of investment has been completed, exceeding 60% of the estimated investment; 250,000 urban housing reconstruction units have been started , more than 60% has been completed. Industrial enterprises in the disaster area have basically resumed production, and the output value of some enterprises has exceeded the pre-earthquake level.

Reconstruction is not just a simple restoration, but also a testing ground for dreams and a stage for rebuilders to show their talents.

Most of the more than 100 severely affected towns that were once devastated have turned into beautiful pastoral towns in a blink of an eye, spanning 10 or 20 years.

In the mountains behind Qingcheng, Shuimo Town, which was seriously polluted before the earthquake, has now become a picturesque "Little Lijiang" with strong Qiang customs; stroll through the Suzhou garden-style Xiaoli River in Mianzhu City Dezhen is like being in a water town in the south of the Yangtze River; walking into Wenchuan County in the mountains and valleys, the dilapidated city has "changed its face", making people feel like a time and space inversion.

Phoenix Nirvana, reborn from the ashes.

Here, what stands tall is not only buildings, but also confidence in the socialist system with Chinese characteristics. A builder in Shanghai said, "In my eyes, every new building is a flying national flag!"

The whole country is a game of chess: when one side is in trouble, all parties support

Under the socialist system with public ownership as the main body, the motherland is a big family. When one side is in trouble, all parties support, which can concentrate manpower, Financial resources can handle big and difficult things.

Counterpart support is a wonder unique to China.

After the central government made the decision on counterpart assistance on June 13, 2008, aid workers from all over the country rushed to post-disaster reconstruction like soldiers with deep affection for the people in the disaster area and shouldering the sacred national mission. battlefield.

Among this army, there are the "eight main forces" who built the Beijing Olympic venues, the "ace army" who built the Shanghai World Expo, and the special-grade construction enterprises that participated in the post-disaster reconstruction of the Tangshan earthquake... Among the construction aid armies from 19 provinces and cities , a gathering of talents, thousands of academicians, doctors, and masters, many of whom are outstanding management and technical talents with rich experience, forming an unprecedentedly powerful support team.

These construction aid workers are fearless and selfless in their work, comforting the lost lives and igniting hope for the living.

Among the 19 aiding provinces and cities, the reconstruction of Dujiangyan undertaken by Shanghai has the largest physical workload, with a total investment of 8 billion yuan and a total construction area of ??1.5 million square meters. How can such a large amount of work be completed in two years? Just hard work. They proposed the "white plus black", "5+2" and "nightclub" working methods, which means working day and night, seven days a week, going to the construction site during the day and holding summary meetings at night. Xue Chao, the commander-in-chief of Shanghai's construction aid, said: "Every one of us knows that if we work two more hours a day, children can enter school one semester earlier, and people can move into new homes two months earlier."

In Mianhui Town, Wenchuan County, the epicenter of the earthquake, Zhang Tong, an engineering expert from Zhuhai, was known as "Desperate Saburo". He worked until early morning almost every day. He suffered a fracture during the construction aid and underwent surgery. He had a steel plate sandwiched in his right calf and still used crutches to go to the construction site every day. When the reporter interviewed him, his ankle was still bleeding from the friction of the steel plate and screws. Zhang Tong said: "If we didn't stand here and see everything here with our own eyes, we would never be able to imagine what kind of sacrifices the people of the western region have made over the years. We are here not only to aid construction, but also to practice *** We have the same ideal of prosperity. Now that the east has become rich first, it is our responsibility to support the west.”

For more than a year, reporters visited various disaster-stricken areas during interviews, and the sincerity of the aid workers from all sides impressed them. The reporter was deeply moved.

When building resettlement buildings for residents of Beichuan County, the Shandong Construction Aid Group initially planned to build only 114 "clear water houses" with a construction area of ??450,000 square meters. However, when Commander-in-Chief Xu Zhenxi learned that many people could not afford renovation money and would not be able to repay their debts if they borrowed money for decoration for 10 years, he resolutely decided to renovate all the "clear water houses" of more than 5,000 households before handing over the houses, so that all the houses could be repaid. Residents can move in once they get a key.

He Yezeng, the commander-in-chief of Yantai’s construction aid, will never forget the scene he saw on the mountain road in Xuanping Township, Beichuan: It was a rainy day, and the children from the township primary school had to walk dozens of miles of mountain roads to go to a temporary school. Those with better family conditions rented cars for their children, and more children put a raincloth on their heads and trudged forward on the muddy and steep mountain roads.

Seeing this scene, the builders present cried and felt sorry for the children. He Yeseng gritted his teeth and said: "No matter how difficult the conditions are, no matter how great the difficulties are, we must let the schools in Xuanping and Baini be built as soon as possible." Since then, the two school construction sites have been under construction 24 hours a day. In April last year, Baini Primary School became the first primary school put into use after the disaster in Beichuan County.

It is better to teach people to fish than to teach them how to fish. The aid workers thought more, deeper and further about the disaster area.

Qingchuan is the area with the most aftershocks after the disaster. There are mountains connected with mountains here and geological disasters are frequent. It is difficult to find flat land to build houses, and there is no land available to build industrial parks. The Zhejiang construction aid team racked their brains and studied the method of an "enclave industrial park" to build a "Sichuan-Zhejiang Cooperation Industrial Park" in the urban area of ??Guangyuan City. 60% of profits and taxes will be allocated to Qingchuan. It is expected to solve the employment problem of more than 5,000 people. This is what local people look forward to most. Now, 10 companies have settled here, with a contracted investment of more than 1.6 billion yuan.

Wenchuan, a small city deep in the mountains and canyons, has a population of less than 20,000. The city has no overall plan and has never had a sewage treatment plant. Nowadays, high-standard sewage treatment plants, hospitals, schools, and gymnasiums have been built, but they may not be managed well. Therefore, with a long-term perspective, the Guangzhou construction aid team formulated a set of "intellectual assistance" plans. Through the "two-way temporary posting" method, various management and technical cadres were transferred from Guangzhou to serve in important departments in Wenchuan, and at the same time, cadres were selected from Wenchuan. and technical personnel went to the corresponding departments in Guangzhou to study temporarily to help Wenchuan cultivate talents and improve the level of city management. In more than a year, they also helped Wenchuan County establish a complete urban construction management system, a thick book with more than 200,000 words.

While receiving support from all parties, the people in the disaster area did not wait and relied on themselves to build their homes through self-reliance.

"Exert your own strength, shed your own sweat, and do your own things." "If you have hands, feet, and a life, you can overcome huge difficulties." For more than a year, these two slogans written by villagers of Zaoshu Village in Qingchuan County have spread throughout the disaster area and have become a powerful spiritual motivation for the cadres and people in the disaster area to work hard and build a beautiful new home. Relying on this spirit, Zaoshu Village was the first to build permanent housing in Qingchuan County with a national subsidy of 20,000 yuan per household. Today in Zaoshu Village, more than 200 farmhouses have a five-star red flag hanging in their courtyards. They are grateful to their motherland and proud of themselves as Chinese farmers.

The mass line: vivid practice in reconstruction

From the masses, to the masses, everything for the masses, and everything relying on the masses. Adhering to the mass line has been fully reflected in the restoration and reconstruction work.

After the earthquake, General Secretary Hu Jintao and other central leaders visited the disaster area in person many times. They braved the constant aftershocks to conduct investigations in tents at the epicenter of the earthquake, such as Yingxiu Town, Dujiangyan and Beichuan. In the prefabricated houses and at the site full of ruins, we discussed reconstruction matters with the people in the disaster area and cadres at all levels. From the bottom up, and then from the top down, after several iterations, a major decision was formed: counterpart support, 19 provinces and cities each allocated 1% of their local finances to support 19 severely affected counties, which was completed in three years. Soon adjustments were made based on actual progress, and it was proposed that "the three-year task should be basically completed in two years."

The situation in the disaster-stricken areas varies greatly. The 19 hardest-hit areas have different disaster conditions, natural conditions, cultural customs, and economic development levels. Reconstruction must be adapted to local conditions and allow a hundred flowers to bloom. Therefore, when making decisions, the central government only sets broad goals and principles, leaving ample room for local governments to develop freely. The Eight Immortals from the 19 aided provinces and cities crossed the sea, each showing their magical powers.

Beichuan County was completely destroyed in the earthquake and is the only county that needs to be rebuilt offsite. Shandong Province, which is responsible for the construction assistance, has made a grand plan to rebuild a modern new county integrating residence and industry on 5 square kilometers of land, with the goal of building a world-class model town.

After the earthquake, Dujiangyan City was a "standing ruin". Public service facilities such as schools, hospitals, and water plants were urgently needed to be rebuilt. The Shanghai Aid Agency gave these projects the highest priority. location, and combined with the characteristics of the local countryside, we assisted local farmers to build a 100,000-acre modern agricultural industrial park and opened a "special channel" for their products to enter the Shanghai market.

Guangdong Province is responsible for assisting the construction of Wenchuan County. They have broken down the goals and tasks. 13 cities have assisted in the construction of 13 severely affected towns. As for how to build each city, the province only determines the general principles and "prescribes actions." They are unified, and the "optional actions" vary from city to city.

During the reconstruction process, all aid agencies and the local party committee and government regard “satisfying the masses in everything” as the highest standard for measuring all work.

In March 2009, the Guangzhou Wenchuan Assistance Working Group encountered an unexpected problem. They invited world-renowned experts to design 11 sets of Wenchuan Stadium building plans, but none of them satisfied the local people.

Under confusion, the construction aid team did not start construction rashly, but set up a special public opinion survey team to visit door to door and solicit opinions. It turns out that Wenchuan County is an area inhabited by Tibetan and Qiang people. People have deep feelings for the Tibetan and Qiang ethnic characteristics. They think that the plan designed by the experts is good, but it lacks a bit of "ethnic flavor".

The construction aid team suddenly realized this and immediately invited national architectural design experts to help revise the new plan. When the 12th set of plans, which were both fashionable, modern and unique with national characteristics, were announced, they won praise from the local people. Today, this gymnasium filled with rich ethnic customs stands on the banks of the surging Minjiang River. The undulating white roof is like a white hada dancing in the wind. The alternating red patterns are like beautiful Qiang red, conveying happiness and joy.

Whether reconstruction is successful or not depends on whether the masses are satisfied or not; if conflicts and disputes arise, they must be resolved by the masses.

Ginkgo Township, Wenchuan County, which is just a mountain away from the epicenter of the earthquake, Yingxiu, suffered heavy losses in the earthquake, and most of the houses were damaged and collapsed. The houses of eight farmers in the village were slightly damaged and could still be used after repair and reinforcement, so they each received maintenance subsidies ranging from 3,000 to 5,000 yuan. However, when they later discovered that redevelopment households could receive nearly 20,000 yuan in subsidies, they felt it was unfair. The local party committee and government have tried many times, but with little effect. Finally, the township launched the village's "one issue, one discussion" procedure and called the whole village to vote. As a result, other villagers did not support increasing subsidies for them.

In front of the will of the masses, these farmers have nothing to say.

The post-disaster reconstruction of the magnificent mountains and rivers shows the power of the people. We see that everyone from ordinary people in the disaster area to aid workers from all over the country are fully and freely exercising their rights and obligations. Develop your talents and ambitions. These countless trickles of power eventually converged into an overwhelming force.

Scientific Outlook on Development: The "magic weapon" to create miracles of reconstruction

Shortly after the earthquake, activities to learn and practice the Scientific Outlook on Development were launched throughout the party. General Secretary Hu Jintao proposed: "Scientific reconstruction", "post-disaster reconstruction must be closely integrated with the promotion of industrialization, urbanization, the construction of a new socialist countryside, and poverty alleviation and development, and closely integrated with the construction of main functional areas and the optimization and upgrading of industrial structure, and with The protection of national cultural heritage should be closely integrated with the promotion of the rapid restoration and continuous improvement of the ecological environment in disaster areas, and efforts should be made to achieve sustainable development."

This conclusion has become the practice of millions of people.

After the earthquake, the biggest headache for Dujiangyan Municipal Party Committee Secretary Liu Junlin was the lack of funds for reconstruction. 120,000 farmers in the city were affected by the disaster, and nearly 80,000 houses collapsed or were damaged, requiring more than 10 billion yuan in reconstruction funds. This is an astronomical figure for the county (city) finances, and farmers themselves cannot afford it.

Where does the money come from? There is only reform. Liu Junlin made a calculation: if scattered farmers are converted into centralized residences, the city can save about 60,000 acres of collective construction land. Through the reform of the property rights system and the circulation and realization of farmers' homestead land, a huge sum of money can be "converted" to solve the problem of housing reconstruction.

Farmer Wang Quan became one of the first beneficiaries of the reform. He used half of his homestead of more than 400 square meters to jointly build it with Mr. Zhang, a "city man". Mr. Zhang was responsible for financing the construction of two buildings, and each of them got one. Wang Quan got a new building of 238 square meters without paying any cash.

With the help of this reform, Dujiangyan also created a new rural concentrated living model. The beauty and modernization of the village surpassed many urban residential areas and became a dream place for local farmers to live a new life. Now, more than 60 such residential communities have been built, and more than 140 are under construction.

Putting people first and providing help to the masses in times of need has become a unanimous action of all parties involved in post-disaster reconstruction.

During the reconstruction process, the Zhejiang construction aid team discovered that tens of thousands of people in Qingchuan still had no access to clean water, and some people in mountainous areas even had no water to drink. Zhejiang decided to use limited funds wisely and invested more than 300 million yuan in the ground to invest in "invisible" safe drinking water projects, completely solving the drinking water problem of local people. When the Shifang People's Hospital was built, Beijing's builders found that according to the original design, more than 7 million yuan would be spent on facade decoration. The comrades at the headquarters felt distressed and resolutely "deducted" the money and used it instead for the construction of more needed schools.

Integrity in construction aid is also the unanimous pursuit of the 19 aid provinces and cities. More than 80 billion yuan in construction aid funds from various places will be spent within two years. With so much money, how can we ensure that it is spent reasonably and is not embezzled by corruption? Shanghai has established a three-level supervision system. All construction aid funds are transferred through banks, and not a penny passes through individual hands. All budget arrangements and implementation status are published online, and people can check every amount of money at any time. Beijing invited the auditor responsible for the Olympic venues to "gate the door" to reconstruction funds. They conduct full audits of every fund, and auditors stand by to supervise every expenditure and every link. They jokingly call this a "side-standing audit."

It is the common pursuit of the builders to learn from the outstanding achievements of China and all cultures in the world and improve the level of scientific reconstruction.

Shuimo Town, Wenchuan County, a Qiang village that existed as far back as the Tang Dynasty, was once a "paradise" described by the great poet Su Shi and the great painter Zhang Daqian. However, the ruins after the earthquake and severe industrial pollution caused this "beauty" to suffer a lot. After having an in-depth understanding of the human geography here, Liu Hongbao, leader of the construction aid team in Foshan, Guangdong, set the goal for his work: to create "a model for human post-disaster reconstruction." China, Japan, Switzerland, Bhutan...the world-famous landscape towns all inspired him and his colleagues to come up with ideas. In order to make the newly built Shouxi Lake in the town not only maintain the spiritual beauty of the water, but also withstand the impact of heavy rains, flash floods, mudslides and sedimentation, they went to Dujiangyan several times to learn the wisdom of ancient people in water control. Finally, they invited technicians from the State Key Laboratory of Sichuan University who designed Gezhouba to develop a flow model.

At the beginning of this year, when this picturesque "Little Lijiang" with Qiang customs first showed its beauty, visitors were amazed by its beauty.

When reporters talked with the people who created these miracles of reconstruction, a sense of respect and pride arose. More than 30 years of reform and opening up have created a large number of Chinese citizens who are ideal, disciplined, knowledgeable, liberated, and creative. This is China's most precious wealth.

Special Classroom: Unswerving Ideals and Beliefs

For the tens of thousands of Communist Party members participating in the reconstruction of disaster areas, the disaster area is a "special party school."

On the eve of July 1, 2008, a dozen Communist Party members who had never met each other gathered in a dilapidated hotel in Chengdu to hold the first meeting of the Shanghai Assistance Construction Working Group for Dujiangyan - —Party organization democratic life meeting.

The meeting has only one content: Why are we here? Everyone quickly formed a consciousness: we come with a love, a belief, and a responsibility. Dedicating oneself to post-disaster reconstruction is to solve the problems of the people in the disaster area. It is not only the traditional virtue of the Chinese nation, but also the moral pursuit of the Communists.

With this belief, their aid and construction work has made the people in the disaster area highly satisfied. When Commander-in-Chief Xue Chao made a report at the Dujiangyan Municipal People's Congress, many representatives were moved to tears and the audience applauded warmly for a long time.

The threat of aftershocks, the acclimatization, and the work day and night... The reconstruction work in the disaster area is extremely difficult. Many Communist Party members have consistently played a pioneering and exemplary role by relying on their firm beliefs.

Baini Township, Beichuan County, deep in the mountains, became an isolated "island" after the earthquake. The climate here is so humid and cold that Zhang Yaozheng, deputy commander-in-chief of Yantai's construction aid, suffered from arthritis. He could only sleep in pain while wearing knee pads at night, and relied on instant noodles to satisfy his hunger during the day.

Zhang Yaozheng was very lucky that he copied a TV series - "The Long March" into his computer before coming. During the difficult days and months of aid construction in Baini Township, watching "The Long March" became his spiritual food.

“This is a very special feeling.” Zhang Yaozheng said, “The story told by the Long March happened on the land we assisted in building. The mountains and rivers here bear witness to China’s revolution. The most arduous and greatest journey of the Communists. Without firm belief and huge sacrifice, there would be no China today. As a party member and a builder, I must be worthy of the sacrifices given by my ancestors. Blood."

This belief attracts more and more people. Before coming to Beichuan, Zhang Xianguo had never thought about joining the party. Less than half a year after coming to Beichuan, this worker from Weifang Third Construction Group wanted to join the party.

“I used to think that I was an ordinary person and had no idea whether to join the party or not.” Zhang Xianguo said frankly that it was the earthquake relief that changed him. “During the big earthquake, I saw on TV at home that In the most dangerous places and in the most urgent times, those who are on the front line are all Party members. The same is true after arriving in Beichuan. In such a difficult environment, those who are on the front line are also Party members, no matter how hard it is. They all carried it."

Before New Year's Day this year, Zhang Xianguo finally became a probationary party member. He said: "I am 48 years old, and I have no intention of joining the party. I just want to be like them."

Reconstruction aid is not only difficult, but sometimes even requires the cost of life.

When it comes to the construction of Beichuan New County, people will always remember one name: Cui Xuexuan. He is the party secretary and director of the former Construction Bureau of Weifang City, Shandong Province, and the first leader of the Beichuan New County Construction Group.

In May 2008, shortly after arriving in Beichuan, Cui Xuexuan had health problems. He first had diarrhea, then gradually continued to have a fever, lack of energy, dizziness, and his feet felt like stepping on cotton when he walked. He had to take the usual dose of two times the amount of medicine, but he kept gritting his teeth and persisted. Beichuan's hard work and living environment made his condition worsen. Without access to hot meals, boiled water, or hot baths, Cui Xuexuan was dark and thin. He had sores on his mouth, blisters on his feet, and his calves were so swollen that they formed pits when pressed. His colleagues persuaded him to go back to Shandong for medical treatment, but Cui Xuexuan pushed and pushed him, but refused to leave - more than 20,000 people in Beichuan were still waiting for him to build new houses!

On the evening of September 6, 2008, Cui Xuexuan fell. People put him on a stretcher and put him on the plane. Hospital diagnosis: terminal colon cancer. His wife Song Wei came from Weifang. At this moment, she could no longer recognize her husband - he was dark, thin and haggard. He weighed 75 kilograms when he left, and only less than 50 kilograms were left.

The attending doctor sighed and said to Song Wei: "What a pity, I came a month late..."

On his deathbed, Cui Xuexuan still murmured to his 84-year-old mother who was standing by his side: "Mom, when I get better, I will accompany you to see New Beichuan."

In July 2009, this Communist Party member used his own life to practice fighting for the interests of the people. A lifelong vow.

Qi Qi Township, Baoxing County, which is only 27 kilometers away from the epicenter, was the starting point for the Red Army to cross the Jiajin Mountain Snow Mountain 75 years ago. The Red Army Long March Monument stands here. In the Wenchuan earthquake, Qi Qi Township was also severely damaged, with nearly 40% of the houses destroyed.

In the deployment of counterpart support for severely affected areas in Sichuan Province, Guang'an City, the hometown of Comrade Deng Xiaoping, assisted in the construction of Qi Qi Township. Municipal Party Committee Secretary Wang Jianjun personally led the reconstruction team to Qiaiqi. Like the Red Army, they visited every village and visited Tibetan compatriots door to door to understand their difficulties and urgent needs. With Guang'an's assistance, 30 projects including farm houses, schools, hospitals, and roads were completed before New Year's Day this year.

Recalling the days of aid in construction, Wang Jianjun was very emotional: "The aid in the construction of Qi Qi has special significance. When the Kuomintang was chasing the Red Army, they stopped chasing them here. In their view, this is a Tibetan inhabited area. , and in front of them was the Jiajin Mountain, a snowy mountain with an altitude of four to five thousand meters. The Red Army could not escape this place of death. However, the Red Army helped the Tibetan fellows carry water, collect firewood, and repair houses, and they were quickly regarded as friends and relatives by the Tibetan compatriots. With the help of Tibetan compatriots, the Red Army overcame unimaginable difficulties, successfully climbed the snowy mountains, and walked out of the land of death. Today, as we carry out reform and opening up, we must not lose our tradition as we did back then. With a flesh-and-blood connection, a fish can remain invincible forever without leaving the water."

In the post-disaster reconstruction of this "special party school", we see that times are changing, but *** The Communist Party’s belief in seeking happiness for the people has not changed. In order to build a better society, today’s Communists are still leading people of all ethnic groups across the country to create new miracles on the road to the new Long March, just like the Red Army climbed snow-capped mountains and crossed grasslands 75 years ago, from victory to victory. . (Reporters Yang Sanjun, Hou Dawei, Jiang Yi, Ye Jianping and Chen Jian participated in the interview)