1
There are two types of spring in Yingxiu：the one welcomed on branch tips and the one engraved in people's hearts. On January 31，2011 they came together and turned this town into a land of happiness.I was lucky to arrive at that time and to see its beautiful and warm-hearted people.My luck lay in the fact that I had come along with the people of the Dongguan Reconstruction Group.
The whispers of a cold drizzle were falling down from a hazy sky, as the entire town was becoming damp and muddy；that was the kind of weather that worried people the most. It would inevitably cast a furtive shadow over everybody's happiness.We were planning to soon join Babayan, an outdoors celebration in Yingxiu, but cold rain and dark haze were threatening to wipe out the festive spirit.
For the people of Sichuan, Babayan is marked by traditional activities, such as feasts and celebrations for the whole family. They require specific preparations, including setting up a large, round table in the courtyard, decorated with a clean, white tablecloth and fragrant flowers.A delightful smell of steaming hot delicacies is palpable.The dishes are prepared to have many layers and come served in deep bowls.Old and young ones, men, and women sit together around the table, dressed in their best clothes, joking and laughing as they repeatedly raise their glasses to the occasion.The particularly jubilant atmosphere is easily noticeable in the activities of young, good-looking men and women.Skirts and sleeves are flapping, as boys and girls joyously sing and dance in the corner, using their well-built bodies, elegantly sloppy shoulders and small waists；the more tables and chairs are filled with people, the greater the occasion becomes.
That was as well how Yingxiu greeted the spring that would decide its destiny on this day.
Three mountain tunnels, crossing the Zipingpu Dam[3]，then the Dragon Cave[4]and finally, Longxi[5]，almost connected Dujiangyan[6]and Ying Xiu, the distance between which was 15 kilometres. As cars came out of the second tunnel, white snow would be fluttering in front of them and snowflakes would resemble the giant ones that children usually draw.Mountains, bridges, and trees were enveloped in plain, calm, and neat white gauze.This landscape would usually make me vent out my emotions and cheerfully recite the poem line“Only the heavens have the power to cut the water into flowers that can fly[7]”.And yet, this time I could not help but worry, as rain turned into snow and people became more restless in their courtyards.
When all three tunnels are left behind you, the mountains that reveals itself before your eyes is Yingxiu. This is where snowflakes become larger and everything is wrapped in white；the world simply seems remote and pure.
When we stopped our car, a beautiful girl came up from one side of the road and offered each of us a red scarf known as qianghong[8]，and white one called hada[9]. On the first day of spring, the garish qianghong was wrapped around a graceful hada.These two worshiped garbs were worn together in stark contrast with each other, as independent representations of festivity.
I was the first one to receive the two gifts：that was the kindness of those workers. As the bright qianghong and the hada mutually reflected each other, I felt their weight on my neck.I, with a straight posture, deeply bowed down to the girl, showing genuine dedication to the land and paying tribute to all people who had proved their love for it.I salute you, Yingxiu！
On that day, there were no parking lots on the streets of Yingxiu and everybody had to take a minibus that left from the town outskirts. When we arrived, we had to wait at the wooden temporary government office in front of the town entrance.Although heaters, noticeably glowing red were placed next to every desk and everybody seemed overwhelmingly happy, the office was still so chilled that people would shake from the cold.If you tried to take a pen out and sign something, you simply couldn't do it.Everyone's fingers were so cold that it was hard to control their movement.I remember people saying that the group of the restruction workers suffered frostbite during the first winter that they came, and it was a time of empathy since everybody's hands and feet were getting frostbite.
All of the town government staff were wearing their festive clothes and their faces beamed with smiles. I could feel that Yingxiu was alive！
2
The minibus drove to the town. I heard the accent of Dongguan and subconsciously thought I was in Guangdong[10].Zhou Yunhua from the reconstruction group told me that the bus was full of workers from Dongguan who were coming back to Yingxiu before the Spring Festival[11].He spoke lightly and spontaneously and yet I could feel his sincerity when he said“coming back after the Spring Festival，”it meant that these people of Dongguan had already accepted Yingxiu as their home.
Like everybody else, I stared at the outside with my eyes wide open；a detail in the passing scenery touched my heart：vegetable fields along the road were lying like handkerchiefs embroidered with flowers which were spread out. Pieces of flat land between the road and the hills would make you feel like they would never be used again but rows of pale pinkish grey cabbage and green vegetables covered in dew were still patiently growing there.This was the kind of ordinary rural scenery in Sichuan；local farmers grew crops and vegetables in all kinds of unusual places.Sometimes, you might see two lettuce roots planted in a small corner and two emerald green lettuce leaves would be swaying from robust, big and fleshy roots.The remaining space was so narrow that you could only plant some pumpkin shoots which would surround it like a natural fence of pumpkin vine which would astonish people and spread its seeds.However, here and now this situation had another meaning；it brought a sense of freedom and serenity.And that leisurely feeling of happiness at people's homes and jobs was so precious！After all, in the epicentre of the devastating Wenchuan earthquake land was ravaged, time was lost and people's hearts were wandering aimlessly.
This was the third spring after the disaster.
“I saw a new world because the old world was already gone.”
Amid mixed feelings, I couldn't help but say aloud this sentence from The Book of Revelation[12].
Just like the land beside the roads, hillsides were also carefully trimmed, flattened and planted with bright green, fresh vegetables but given what the terrain originally was, their existence looked more like a fairy-tale. They seemed to have a deeper meaning than the wide, flat roads or the spectacular tall buildings.If the main part of the newly reconstructed Yingxiu were a large tree with leafy branches, then the small pieces of land would have been flowers and tasty fruit on the branches because they showed the feelings of a brand new world.
Returning from a once painful everyday life, locals had fully recovered and bid farewell to pain. A feeling like sacred sympathy of sorrow, like a divine return meant that nirvana was restored.
Once the new town of Yingxiu was in sight, the slow snowfall created a certain dazing, psychedelic effect, as if a fairy was about to come down from the skies, gorgeous and elegant from head to toes. But it all looked different that day：big, flaming red lanterns and scarlet ribbons were fluttering and hanging off eaves of buildings and branches of trees；within that elegance, there was overwhelming happiness and heartfelt harmony.
The minibus stopped at the Dongguan Avenue entrance of Fort Beach and all passengers got off. Strings with lanterns of all sizes were hanging as the street was covered in red；there seemed to be so many of them scattered amongst buildings and between trees along the road.Around the lanterns, scarlet silk ribbons caught the eye and seemed remarkably wide and long；bright colours were all around.
There was little space on the streets which were full of people wearing festive clothes, surging between the hustle and the bustle. As far as you could see, tables covered with white cloths were set up all along the street.Children were joyously shouting and running around, the elderly were telling jokes in groups of two or three beside the tables, women were serving tea and spirits on the tables with light footsteps, their faces smiling with delight.The faint sounds of drums and songs that one could hear were simply chants of happiness.
That ignited my heart and made it tremble gently with excitement.
Babayan was supposed to start at half past eleven and since there was still time, I decided to go for a walk and look around on my own.
