CHINA> Regional
Rebuilding takes center stage
By Hu Yinan and Zhang Haizhou (China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-18 08:46


People pay their respects to family members who died in the quake at a hilltop in Yingxiu. [Xinhua]

A few shops display T-shirts with prints like "Yingxiu, Fight On!" that have become popular.

Wen Yan, who runs one such tent shop, smiled happily and waved the shirts proudly to passers-by.

Perhaps the most eye-catching temporary shop was a gray grocery store that lay on the west bank of the river.

"I have three grocery stores in Yingxiu," 43-year-old shopkeeper Zhou Changxue told China Daily.

"This is the only one in the township in a Russian tent."

The Wenjiang native opened his tent shop at the beginning of June.

Zhou, who broke his right leg in the quake, did not leave Yingxiu after the disaster hit because he believed that people here would go hungry in its aftermath.

"I have been in this business for more than 20 years," he said.

While a stable power supply is still a problem in the area, Zhou is considered one of the luckier ones because the authorities provided him with a generator for his shop, which is much larger than others, to open till late.

"My prices have remained the same as those prior to the quake," he said.

"Cigarettes and washing supplies such as soap and shampoo sell best," Zhou said.

The soldiers who are involved in the recovery work in the town are some of his biggest customers.

"They come frequently to stock up on necessities," he said.