On the third anniversary of the catastrophic Wenchuan magnitude 8.0 earthquake that devastated Sichuan province on May 12, 2008, Bailu is ready to celebrate as the last fully reconstructed town near the province’s capital city of Chengdu.

Unlike other traditional Chinese towns, Bailu is integrating Chinese and French architectures to become “a small town of traditional Chinese and exotic French styles”.

Located about 70 kilometers north of downtown Chengdu, Bailu is a town of 10,000 residents in about 3,000 households living in an area of 78 square kilometers in size.

Just three years ago, the small town had been nearly destroyed. About 90 percent of the area’s houses, 17,000, collapsed or were in ruins. Sixty-eight people and 1,123 others were wounded. The direct economic loss amounted to 1.4 billion yuan.

Bailu, which took longer than other quake-hit towns and cities in Sichuan province to recover, was careful to rebuild in a way that would make it both more modern and more attractive to outside tourism and investments.

Development-based reconstruction

The core blocks of Bailu town contain two 800-meter-long streets. To the south of the streets are residential quarters featuring French architecture with high, pointed roofs and vaulted lattice windows. Some buildings have the appearances of ancient castles. To the north of the streets are buildings of traditional Chinese style. They combine to constitute the setting of “traditional Chinese and exotic French styles” More than 400 families live in the quarter.

Gao Tiancheng, secretary-general of the Party Committee of Bailu town, said that Bailu based its development on embracing its unique advantages as a positive way to create a strong foundation for future economic development. With a history of more than 1,000 years, Bailu boasts rich mineral resources, a gentle climate and up to 71 percent forest coverage. In summer, many residents of Chengdu come to Bailu to avoid summer heat.

For decades, coal mining was a major source of jobs and income for Bailu. More than 70 coal mines operated, but not without coal mine accidents and a negative effect on the environment. So since 2006, Bailu had been gradually closing its coal mines and turning to efforts to develop agriculture and tourism. It was when Bailu was just getting a foothold in addressing how to grow a new industry base that the earthquake struck.

Deciding to embrace a combination of Chinese and French influences in rebuilding the town, Bailu drew on its close relationship with French culture that spanned more than 100 years. About 110 years ago, Gubulan, a French missionary, came to the town and built Shangshuyuan, a Roman Catholic college. The college campus, 18,000 square meters in size, became an architectural landmark in the town. The college was listed as a cultural relic under State protection. Many engaged couples traveled to Bailu to have their pictures taken in front of the pretty building.

After the earthquake struck, Chinese officials at various government levels agreed on a development-based reconstruction plan versus a traditional recovery-style reconstruction. Bailu would become a AAAA-level tourism destination to enable local residents previously relying on coal mining to live a better life. Sixteen other Chengdu area towns also chose a development-based reconstruction plan that would reflect the unique look, history and advantages of each.

"The earthquake ruined Bailu town. But with the recovery and reconstruction of the past two years, we have leaped forward two decades,” Gao said.

Outside help aids recovery

In 2007, Bailu town reported 53.39 million yuan in its gross domestic product (GDP) and a per capita income of 5,284 yuan. But its direct economic loss in the Wenchuan earthquake amounted to 1.4 billion yuan. How could the town afford to rebuild itself?

Gao said strong support from the town’s people, and county, municipal, provincial and national governments raised most of the 600 million yuan to 700 million yuan it would cost to rebuild Bailu.

State subsidies and social donations also contributed significantly to the reconstruction. The central government provided a loan of $20 million through the French Development Agency. This money was used to build infrastructure, including roads, bridges, waterworks and sewage treatment plants.

State funds and social donations accounted for most of the funds used to build permanent housing for local residents. About 2,100 households had their permanent housing reconstructed. Among them, about 800 houses were constructed under government arrangements. The government contributed an average of 20,000 yuan to 25,000 yuan to each of these households. Governments at all levels centralized and coordinated the use of the donations to produce a subsidy of about 15,000 yuan donated funds to each household.

"One-for-one aided construction is a world-class innovation policy,” Gao said. “This mechanism has reflected strong state power, the superiority of China’s social system, and the fine tradition of the Chinese nation that when disaster strikes, help comes from all sides.”

According to the national unified arrangement, Fujian province aided the reconstruction of Pengzhou city, which has jurisdiction over Bailu town. Fujian used more than 3.3 billion yuan for reconstruction, including more than 10 million yuan earmarked for Bailu town. Xiamen in Fujian province helped build Bailu’s radio and television center, kindergarten and government affairs center.

Rebuilding, Chinese-style

Other Sichuan province cities and towns came to the aid of Bailu despite the fact that they, too, suffered from the deadly Wenchuan earthquake, which inflicted heavy losses in an area about 500,000 square kilometers in size. About 80,000 people died or disappeared. Altogether, more than 28 million people living in the affected area suffered losses, and the direct economic loss exceeded 1 trillion yuan.

Among the quake-shaken cities, Chengdu city reported economic losses totaling 124.7 billion yuan. About 283,700 homes were toppled or severely damaged in urban and rural areas totaling 42.7 million square meters. Another 200,000 homes suffered at least some damage.

Chengdu and other quake-hit cities recovered quickly. By the end of last year, Chengdu had finished 2,866 of 3,147 planned reconstruction projects at a cost 82.35 billion yuan. More than 500,000 households (78.1 percent of urban residents and 97.1 percent of the rural residents) have respectively moved into new residences. In Chengdu’s case, there was also a heavy emphasis on education.

"In its post-disaster reconstruction, Chengdu gave priority to the education sector. It has integrated quality and efficiency, and harmonized school building reconstruction and curriculum improvements. It has built the Chengdu education sector into a model of scientific development in post-disaster reconstruction,” said Gu Shengzu, a member of the National People’s Congress (NPC) Standing Committee and vice chairman of the NPC Committee for Internal and Judicial Affairs.

Bailu, because of its different approach to rebuilding, took a year longer. Local residents have shifted their means of livelihood from agriculture to the service sector. A new infrastructure and modern communications technologies have laid a solid foundation for the small town to map out a promising future.