New Year celebration in China's quake zone

On the eve of Spring Festival, some villagers in Ludian County of Yunnan Province gathered in the square of their temporary settlement for a special New Year dinner.

A 6.5-magnitude earthquake hit the county on Aug. 3., claiming more than 600 lives and destroying over 80,000 homes.

In Longtoushan Township, a worst hit area, more than 30 tables have been set in the Huijiezi settlement with bottles of wine and hot dishes prepared by villagers.

At a table shared with another family, Duan Qirong, 45, sips from his glass and watches the children playing around with an air of satisfaction.

"Although we are still living in tents, I am looking forward to moving to a new house in the new year," he said.

The county government said more than 15,000 families had been relocated before the New Year. Construction has begun on more than 41,000 new dwellings, over 85 percent what's needed. The drinking water supply destroyed in the quake has also been restored.

Bao Jian, who heads the county, hopes that by the end of August, all work on houses will be finished. The new schools and medical stations will also be completed. County officials have been visiting displaced villagers for the last month, extending New Year wishes and distributing money and gifts of clothes, rice and cooking oil.

In the Ganjiazhai settlement site, tents are pasted with traditional New Year couplets. Zhang, 71, is cleaning the outside of the tents with a rag. "We need to do some cleaning for the New Year," she said, adding that the government has given them clothes, quilts and decorations for Spring Festival.

The county government said over 30,000 tents, 240,000 quilts and 230,000 coats as well as heating equipment such as stoves and electric blankets have been distributed. Temperatures in Ludian can be as low as minus ten degrees centigrade in winter.

Since the use of heaters may be a fire hazard, the settlements have plenty of fire extinguishers and security personnel are on duty 24 hours.

Since Ludian is an underdeveloped county, apart from new infrastructure, the county will focus on helping villagers increase their income by developing specialty trades such as planting pepper and walnuts.