Rescue & Aid
Gratitude with a side of rice
By Qi Xiao and Hu Yongqi (China Daily)
Updated: 2010-04-29 07:14
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YUSHU, Qinghai - The sun was sinking as dozens of residents in quake-struck Yushu lined up for a free meal, courtesy of restaurant owner Liu Anhua.
More than 500 survivors came to Liu's tent last Sunday to get three Sichuan-style dishes and rice each.
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"Local Tibetans and other ethnicities often come to my restaurant and we have been getting along with each other very well," he said.
The stout 36-year-old man is a native of Beichuan county, Sichuan province. His house collapsed in the May 12, 2008 earthquake but fortunately no family member died. He has been running a restaurant in the Tibetan autonomous prefecture of Yushu for about two years.
"After the May 12 earthquake, thousands of people rushed to help us from all corners of China. We are very grateful, so we should do something too after this disaster," Liu explained as he cut vegetables.
He and his family have been doing this for about a week.
They get up at 6 am and begin preparing lunch at 7 am or 8 am. Then they dish out lunch at noon before starting to cook dinner an hour or two later.
"Dinner is ready at 5 or 6 pm," Liu said, his eyes bloodshot. "And it's usually midnight by the time we get to sleep."
"I just want to offer my own help," Liu said. "I know what it feels like eating instant noodles and drinking bottled water every day."
He wielded a giant spatula in a giant wok in the open air, making one of the three main dishes that day, Mapo Tofu (spicy beancurd), while his brother-in-law Huang Yongjun helped out.
In the tent that is their makeshift kitchen, 12 pressure cookers were in full steam: his wife Huang Yonghui was preparing today's staple food - rice.
"So many people come here for every meal," Huang said. "Sometimes even this is not enough."
Indeed, they use five bags of rice, each 50 kilograms, every day. Add vegetables, cooking oil and sometimes meat, and the cost can be as high as 2,000 yuan ($290) a day, which comes from their own savings.
"I have received some donations - mainly vegetables," Liu said. "I appreciate the help. But it's quite meager."
In fact, the Lius had just paid off the loans they took out to resettle after the Sichuan quake. "They borrowed almost 200,000 yuan to set up the restaurant here," said Liu's brother-in-law Huang Yongjun, who himself had worked as a taxi driver in Yushu for more than two years.
"When things started to look a little brighter and my restaurant began to make some profit, the quake struck," Liu added, smiling helplessly.
Before long, a long line once again begins to form for dinner.
Zhou Na, a 10-year-old girl, stands first in line. It is the second day she has come here. "The meal is hot and very well-cooked. I no longer have to munch instant noodles," she says.
Tashi, a 38-year-old local resident who has been eating here since the first day, says nothing - just giving two thumbs up and returning to his portion.
While local residents are enjoying the hot Sichuan dishes, it may not last for long. "I have spent quite a lot of our savings," Liu conceded.
"But I will do my utmost," he said. "I will cook free meals until I spent the last penny."
