Relocated villagers adapt to new life out of mountains
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Xinhua, September 25, 2011
Zhang Changhe sits on the porch of his new two-story brick house, basking in the sun after weeks of gloomy rainy days.
Rainstorms have pelted Zhang's hometown in northwest China's Shaanxi Province for two weeks till just one day ago. But this year, 46-year-old Zhang does not have to worry that persistent rains will wash away his home again.
Zhang was part of a migration project, the largest of its kind in China to move people out of disaster-prone areas and regions that are both remote and poor.
The number of people involved in the project -- launched by the Shaanxi government in April -- is about twice the amount relocated to make way for the country's Three Gorges Dam.
Over the next 10 years, 2.4 million people living in Shaanxi's southern mountainous region will be moved to safe areas, while another 400,000 will be relocated from its drought-ravaged northern part.
The province's south has suffered over 2,000 geological disasters over the past 10 years and nearly 600 people died because of them, said Li Qiang, an official with the province's land resources department.
Rain-triggered disasters last July alone killed over 200 people in Shaanxi, the worst tragedy of its kind in the region in years, which ultimately pushed the provincial government to launch the massive migration project.
Zhang's mud-and-wood cottage in a valley was destroyed by a landslide on July 23, 2010. The homes of 23 other families in the valley also collapsed in the rain or were washed away by landslides.
"We were lucky to be alive," Zhang said. The village had been evacuated before rains triggered landslides.
About two months ago, Zhang and the others moved into a row of newly-built houses in Gaoyi Village, which is about 20 kilometers from the valley in Shanyang County in the city of Shangluo.
Torrential rains and landslides have turned Zhang's old village in the valley into a sea of rocks and mud. The roads leading to it were also destroyed.
"It's impossible to build a new village there. It's a total mess," said Zhang, whose family has lived in the valley for generations.
"Besides, life here is easier. I don't have to panic whenever a storm comes," said Zhang, who had to repair the old cottage almost every summer.
"I can buy things whenever I want and the kids can go to better schools in the town," said Zhang, the father of two children whose new home is built on flat land right beside a highway.
The 10-year migration project in southern Shaanxi is expected to cost nearly 110 billion yuan (17.2 billion U.S. dollars).
Zhang's new house and the others were unifiedly designed and built by the local government.
The farmer-turned construction worker and his wife spend several months a year working in the neighboring Henan Province. They bought the four-bedroom house for about 120,000 yuan.
The local government also chipped in and offered 17,000 yuan, said Zhang.
Nearly one fourth of Shanyang's 440,000 population are migrants who work in cities and save almost every penny they earn, said an employee of the county government's information office.
With some government subsidies and their savings, most of them would be able to afford the new houses. For those who cannot, the government will subsidize more, he said.
The provincial government and the Shaanxi Non-ferrous Metals Group co-established a 3-billion-yuan company in April to be responsible for the project's financing.
Zhang is optimistic about the future as a farmer's market is planned to rise near his home next year.
"When the market opens, we will make the first floor a grocery store. My wife will come home to take care of it," Zhang said.
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