People attend a bazaar in Pishan county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Sunday. The county was hit by a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in July. Photos by Liu Xin / China News Service

 Rebuilding gets under way as Pishan county faces its first winter after tragedy killed 3 in July

People packed the weekly street market in Pishan county, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Sunday.

The most popular items to buy were duvets and blankets as people from nearby villages whose homes were damaged or destroyed in an earthquake in early July were getting ready to move into new houses before the winter.

Pishan county, in southern Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture, was hit by a 6.5-magnitude earthquake on July 3. Three people were killed and 263 others injured. More than 12,000 houses were destroyed in the quake.

Pixina township was one of the worst hit areas in Pishan, with many houses destroyed. So far the construction of 800 new houses has been completed in the village where Abulit Memet lives.

All of Abulit's five houses collapsed in the earthquake. Luckily, no one was hurt. He and his family moved into their new house on Nov 1. The government has provided each affected family with 30,000 yuan ($4,700) to rebuild, and free building materials.

"I only spent 15,000 yuan on the new house, which has two bedrooms and two living rooms. It's really cosy," said Abulit, 47. "We are looking forward to starting a new life after surviving the earthquake."

To help families get through the winter, each household can also receive 500 kg of coal provided by the government.

After the earthquake, President Xi Jinping asked local authorities to regard reconstruction as a major task which could help consolidate ethnic unity, safeguard border stability, accelerate poverty relief and promote local economic and social development.

He stressed that people affected by the quake must have houses to live in before the winter comes. The central government has allocated 400 million yuan for reconstruction of Pishan, inhabited mainly by people from the Uygur ethnic group.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn