Throughout the day and into the evening smoke from the burning high-rise cast both a literal and emotional pall over the city.
A year ago today Shanghai residents watched in horror as fire engulfed the 28-storey building at 728 Jiaozhou Road in Jing'an district, destroying lives, belongings and memories gathered over a lifetime.
Some former residents, many of them retired teachers, are still reeling from grief, others have moved on, with their live while others still can't decide their next move. None escaped the emotional burden of living through Shanghai's worst fire in living memory which killed 58 and injured 71.
"We've purchased a new two-bedroom apartment in Putuo district with the compensation we received from the city government," said Lan Di. "I'm shopping for new furniture, mainly bookshelves for my husband's books. It will be nice to have a proper Chinese New Year in our own home again next year."
Lan and her retired husband Lan Fan are thankful they escaped the fire with their lives but the 62-year-old professor lost his life's work - a collection of 40,000 books and manuscripts and six computers.
"I have never seen my husband so devastated and I never want to see the look on his face again," Lan told the Global Times.
The couple has been living at government expense in a 20-square-meter room at the Fanyang Hotel since the night of the fire.
The professor of comparative literature at Shanghai University has spent the last year trying to reconstruct his last book.
"Since the night of the fire he hasn't stopped rewriting his book. It's like he's obsessed," said Lan.
"I blamed myself for not being able to save my manuscripts and books, so I must work 10 times harder now," the professor said.
A city shared its grief
Days after the fire, in a citywide outpouring of condolences and shared grief, thousands of Shanghai residents formed a four-kilometer long line that stretched around the apartment complex to lay a wreath or flower by the building. A week later, thousands attended a funeral service for those who died.
A memorial service will be held again today for those killed in the fire and their families at Jing'an Temple, a government source told the Global Times.
Like many local Shanghai people and companies that wanted to help the victims of the fire, the Shanghai Technology Lab was happy to lend its expertise after hearing of professor Lan's loss.
"When I first saw the burnt computer hard disks, I thought it would be mission impossible to retrieve any data," Chen Du, the chief engineer of the lab told the Global Times. "But we called our partners in the United States, and a team of seven technicians poured their hearts into the task."
The company managed to restore 50 files from the burnt hard disks.
"It was the first draft of the book, and it's enough to help me recall what I wrote. It will be better the second time around," said Lan who has rewritten 900,000 words and expects to finish his book by February.
The charred remains of 728 Jiaozhou Road remain covered in scaffolding as restoration work on the blacked concrete structure continues. Meanwhile, more than 30 families remain billeted in nearby hotels with the government footing the bill.
Contemplating compensation offers
Fifty-seven families have accepted compensation offered by the city, the Jing'an Times, a district government-run newspaper reported last week.
Victims of the fire were offered 51,000 yuan ($8,037) per square meter for their apartment which is reported to be 70 percent higher than market value, according to a proposal offered by the Jing'an Construction Company.
The company also offered the victims several alternatives to an all-cash settlement. They could accept an apartment in a new building that will be finished construction in 2015, or wait for renovations to their old apartments to be completed which will also include a cash payment of 15,300 yuan ($2,411) per square meter.
With over 100 families yet to sign a compensation agreement, the Jing'an district government extended an October 15 deadline that would have required the fire victims to leave the temporary shelters that have been provided free of charge for the last year.
A total of 131 families have left the hotels where they lived for nearly a year, according to the Jing'an Times. While they wait for their permanent residence to be completed, the government is providing a rental subsidy of 70 yuan ($11) per square meter up to the size of their old apartment.
Immobilized by grief
Li Zefeng, who lost his 25-year-old daughter in the fire, was glad that the deadline was extended. He just can't yet bring himself to decide which compensation offer he should accept.
"I haven't recovered from my daughter's death. It is hard for me to decide on any compensation package," Li told the Global Times. "Besides, the proposals keep changing. I am just afraid of making a wrong decision."
Li also refused the offered death benefit. According to the Jing'an Times, 23 families that lost loved ones have accepted compensation of 960,000 yuan, which includes 310,000 yuan in financial assistance from the government and charities.
Wang Hong, who lost his mother and his wife in the fire, has also refused to accept the death benefit until he gets more information about the cause of the fire.
Raising fire safety awareness
A State Council report released in June blamed the blaze on an unlicensed welding company whose worker ignited insulation while the building was being renovated. The financial loss was set at 158 million yuan.
The report blamed lax supervision, careless sub-contracting and a corrupt inspection system as indirect causes of the fire. Twenty-five people were tried and given jail terms, 28 others received administrative penalties.
Gao Weizhong, former director of Jing'an District Construction and Transport Committee, was sentenced to 16 years for abuse of power and bribery, according to a Shanghai Intermediate People's Court, which announced the verdict in August.
Huang Peixin, manager of Shanghai Jiayi Building Decoration Engineering Company, a subcontracted company, was also sentenced to 16 years for violating construction safety regulations.
Shanghai's Party Secretary Yu Zhengsheng said the root cause of the tragedy was a lack of awareness of work safety. He has vowed to improve the city's management of construction projects.
Over the past year the city has launched fire inspection and prevention campaigns aimed to raising public awareness.
Vice Mayor Zhang Xuebing, who is also director of Shanghai Public Security Bureau, said the city can't only rely on its professional fire fighting teams to prevent and put out fires.
Zhang noted that the city has 7,000 firefighters, a population of 22 million and 15,000 high-rises.
The city's fire prevention department is now offering cash rewards of 500 yuan for tips on potential fire hazards such as blocked fire escapes or unsafe construction work.
On the National Fire Prevention Day on November 9, the Shanghai Fire Control Bureau said over 1,175 people responsible for fire hazards have been detained and it has shut down some 532 hazardous public places. The action involved more than 19,000 officers from the city's 300 police stations. The team inspected 550,000 public venues since the end of September.
As of the end of October, the city had reported 5,260 fires this year that claimed 37 lives and injured 43. Economic losses due to fire totaled 55.23 million yuan, according to the Fire Control Bureau.
Qian Bo, a 78-year-old survivor of the Jing'an fire who lived on the 17th floor, told the Global Times he hopes last year's tragedy will help raise awareness of the deadly consequence of fire and that important lessons have been learned.
"I am glad my wife and I survived, but many of my neighbors didn't. The families that lost loved ones will always be in pain," Qian said. "The time for placing blame has passed. It's time to make sure nothing so horrible ever happens again in Shanghai."
