1
Yingxiu has many nicknames, such as“The Gateway to the Beauty of the West，”“The South Gate to Aba[13]”and“The First Town of North-western Sichuan，”and all of these elegant words reveal a certain geographical importance. This is indeed a transport hub which has the irreplaceable value of connecting the region.Located between Chengdu and the Ngawa Tibetan and Qiang Autonomous Prefecture（also known as Aba），only 70 kilometres north of Chengdu, Yingxiu is the nearest town to Chengdu in Aba, while it is also 45 kilometres east of the famous Wolong Natural Reserve and visitors of the Heavenly Land[14]who are going to Jiuzhaigou, Mount Siguniang or other attractions in the area have to pass through here.
When describing Yingxiu, people usually start with the hills and the river. The hills are the Min Mountains[15]which embrace the town, scattered high and low, forward and backward, firmly standing in silence all around with their lush and verdant trees and flowers：a splendid expression of kind-heartedness.The river is widely known as the Minjiang River and brings water straight from the tall, snow-capped mountains as wind whistles and waves roar, singing excitedly a long, happy song；the water passes downstream through mountains and rivers and forms the famous Dujiangyan.Yet, it was not only the scenery which had a special meaning and one needed to look upstream to trace the origins of the town.The rivers which ran through Yingxiu had great benefits for it：first, the Minjiang River had a high and powerful drop which reached twenty six meters at a point where the river was being 1，200 meters wide；and second, the quantity of flowing water was huge as bird songs and floral fragrance rolled down all the way from the Wolong Natural Reserve through the calm Fishing Village River into the Minjiang River.These were ideal conditions for the generation of hydroelectric power and hydropower stations of different sizes had emerged.The little town was called the“village of hydroelectric power.”
Although rivers have been flowing here since antiquity, the practical use of water only started developing in recent times. The first hydroelectric power station in Yingxiu was established in 1964.Only after it was built, a village formed around it.Hydropower caused rapid development for the region's economy and in 1984 the village was officially established.
And thus, Yingxiu is in fact a new town which was founded less than thirty years ago.
The two characters[16]in the name of Yingxiu have a longer history and could be traced back to the times of Emperor Xianfeng[17]. Historical annals state that“Yingxiu belonged to the Dongjieli Village of Wenchuan County under the Ming Dynasty and to Xiashuili Village under the Qing Dynasty.During the rule of Emperor Xiangfeng, a township was established and it governed seven villages.”Yingxiu was always governed as a part of a group of seven formerly nameless villages but at present they are grouped into a town.All of them have now been given a proper names：Fort Beach, Fishing Village, Maple Scent Tree Village, Zhangjiaping, Huangjia, Huangjiayuan and Old Streets Village.The Old Streets Village must be the oldest one because the town of Yingxiu is named after it.The village was originally called Yingxiu Bay and that was where the earliest government office was set up.It was certainly the most prosperous place in the area at the time.Although the town is now made up of four villages：Fort Beach, Fishing Village, Maple Scent Tree Village and Zhangjiaping, and has a lively community and town scene, there were only 15 farmhouses around Miaoziping of Fort Beach at the time when the People's Republic of China[18]was established.Apart from them, there used to be only arable land, grass fields and deserted beaches along both sides of the river.Only one look at the area could tell you how still and silent it was.Back then, none of the areas had any lovely names and the 15 households in the area would call it Water Paddy Dam.During the period of the Republic of China（1912-1949），the area here was also known as Slope Bottom.
The first township government was established in 1953 and it was the construction of the Cheng-A Highway[19]that led to that, as it is classified as a national highway. A distinctive feature of Yingxiu is that apart from the two rivers that pass through that small rural area, two well-known main roads, namely also form an intersection here.The National Highway 213 and the provincial highway 303（new line of the Cheng-A highway）.These two roads and the high-speed road between Dujingyan and Wenchuan make transport very convenient.
The township government used to be in the current area of the Maple Scent Tree Village. Back then, there were still people living there but they would have been only about ten families.The winding dirt roads in front of people's homes were the first town streets.The area was not called Maple Scent Tree Village at that time；that name was given to it in 1958.Later, the village became an industrial area and most businesses in town settled there.Aba Pharmaceutical factory, occupying 20.7 hectares, was the largest among them.There were also factories for Mao Perry[20]，cement, tea[21]and cardboard boxes.
To be precise, Fort Beach is in fact the oldest part；a garrison of soldiers was allocated here as early as the times of the Tang Dynasty and hence, it was given the name Beach Fort. That name was derived from the location of an actual beach：the Minjiang River and the Fishing Village rivers merge here, forming a beach which became the flattest terrain in the whole mountain valley.This must be the reason why it later became the town centre.
Fishing Village, Miaoziping and other villages were connected in 1965 when the Cheng-A Highway first passed through there. Power plants were gradually built on both sides of the main highway at Yingxiu Bay and houses eventually covered the area.The main street of the town, which was about two kilometres long and between fourteen and eighteen meters wide, with Miaoziping as the centre, surrounder Ertaishan and extended.That was the village of Fort Beach.The main office of the power plant, various businesses and public institutions were concentrated here.The farmers markets were also organised around the streets of the village, sellers spread their goods out between streets and alleys, where people walked around and traveling merchants went；this was an image of abundance and prosperity.Besides, small bridges were built over the Fishing Village River connected the stone streets and the wood fences of the village, showing the charm of Southern China.
All of this was before the earthquake.
2
The sombre times started on May 12，2008 at 2：28pm with the earthquake；that foul word brought shear malice together which clashed with the idyllic beauty of Yingxiu.
Before the tragedy, over sixteen thousand people lived in Yingxiu but after it, only one third of them remained. Being the epicentre of the colossal Wenchuan earthquake, the damage in Yingxiu was the most unbearable, the situation couldn't be any worse.
The grief caused by the earthquake was destined to turn into words of sorrow：
Water and electricity networks, roads, communication and other infrastructure was completely ruined.
All houses in the town had collapsed.
The value of all damages exceeded 4. 5 billion renminbi.
The most terrible was caused by its specific terrain. The Hundred Flowers Bridge was broken in half, heavy downpour fell after the earthquake and Yingxiu was left cut off from the rest of the world.No information could circulate around and rescue teams could not enter the village which was dying out.
I am guessing whoever first invented the phrase“splendid Yingxiu”must have drawn inspiration from sayings such as“clear mountains and crystal water reflect the dazzling beauty of each other.”The area itself was not large；it was encompassed by a ring of mountains and walking through the town takes less than an hour. The town covers an area of almost two square kilometres.This inch of land has large and small rivers, rich grass fields and splendid forests.It even has a plateau under clear skies and white clouds where the air is fresh, while refreshing breeze blows all-year round.
Yet, behind such exquisite beauty, the graceful Yingxiu has big geological flaws.
The scientific definition of it in historical records is as follows：
Wenchuan is located at the Cathaysan tectonic zone of the Jiuding Mountain and has three fracture：the Qingchuan-Maowen Fracture Zone, the Beichuan-Fort Beach（Yingxiu）Fracture Zone and the Jiangyou-Guanxian Fracture Zone[23]. There is a risk of seismic activity in these areas and their adjacent zones due to their complex tectonic structure.
Moreover, the three flawed areas on the borders of Wenchuan County and their fold and thrust belts[24]cause many earthquake swarms that cause damage in the South-East, including Yingxiu's Xuankou, Water Mills, White Stone, Three Rivers and other regions.
Xuankou is located south of Yingxiu but there is no clear border between the two and they almost bond together；even the middle school in Yingxiu is called Xuankou Middle School. Of course, that was before the earthquake.The long history of this piece of land shows that earthquake statistics are more than simple numbers；from 1952 to 1984，there were 46 earthquakes with a magnitude above 2.5 and 132 of a lesser magnitude.Those of a magnitude of less than 1 are not even included in statistics.
The biggest historically recorded earthquake have happened during the times of Emperor Shunzhi[25]（on April 21，1657）in the area of Weizhou（58 kilometres upstream of the current government office of Wenchuan County that belongs to Yingxiu）.
The prelude to that earthquake was very distinct：“The sound of the earthquake connected day and night；on the eighth day of the Lunar Year the earth cracked up and mountains tumbled.”That means that there was only an endless rumble at the start, which went on day and night. It lasted at least for twenty-four hours.And then, the earthquake broke out on the eighth day of the Lunar Year, as the earth cracked up and mountains tumbled.
Isn't there any omen of the Wenchuan Earthquake?
Nearly all witnesses say in their descriptions that the calamity came suddenly, out of the blue, without a warning, causing a state of shock and fear.
The Wenchuan Earthquake followed the panic as the depths of the Earth started to rumble. People compared the aftershock that they felt to hearing the sound of a train coming at a high speed from afar.But that feeling came so often, it must have felt like stampede of trains coming towards Yingxiu from under the ground.In one month, over ten thousand times of aftershock hit here.
Being the centre of that deadly natural disaster, Yingxiu captured hearts all around the world. The people of China, as well as those of other countries cast their attention here.There were sympathy, anxiety, pain, prayers and blessings……
Let's rescue Yingxiu！Let's rescue our compatriots, our flesh-and-blood brothers, our dear ones！
Oh heavens, give me a pair of wings so I can fly through the clouds, cross mountains and canyons and reach Yingxiu.
The rescuers really had wings：they came for the survivors who were hungry and cold, struggling through pouring rain and mud in desperate moments when hope was almost lost, in a helicopter like an auspicious bird that swirled down from dark skies；that was inspired by the merciful shadow of heavens.
These were the brave soldiers of the People's Liberation Army.
And then, more soldiers came along with the police, the fire brigade……teams of strong men rushed fiercely to cross the mountains through heavy winds.
The President, the Premier and other political leaders were deeply concerned and neglected safety regulations to facing the dangers of a journey to come here.
Teachers, skilled and unskilled workers, businessmen, farmers, students：people of different backgrounds came as volunteers working anxiously day and night.
Helicopters and land vehicles came in a rushed, yet orderly manner from near and far, carrying tents, medicines, food and other relief supplies.
Large excavators, life detectors and x-ray equipment were brought over……
The rescue operation in this battered land had a unique and wide emotional appeal, as the world saw the tragic, devastating earthquake unfold.
Yingxiu, your river water is my blood, your soil is my skin, your mountains are my bones, your lakes are my eyes.
Your wounds are my wounds, your pain is my pain, your hardships are my hardships！
Yingxiu, come back！
Come back to life, bring back your beauty and your love.
That was the sound of China's firm and mighty voice which came straight through.
It was resilient, like the iron will of a nation.
When the arduous, inspiring, yet tragic rescue operation finally ended, reconstruction sounded like a slow symphony orchestrated from above.
The heavens chose Dongguan to undertake Yingxiu's reconstruction.
It was said that the natural disaster brought the two of them together：a village deep in the northwest mountains of Sichuan which was unscrupulously robbed of its fortune and a constantly developing large city in southeast Guangdong, more than one thousand kilometres away. That was how many would interpret the matter：a simple reason of common sense is that Dongguan has the reputation of a rich, developed area, its GDP is ranked in China's top thirteen cities, average salaries are also amongst the highest ones in the country, and such regional economic miracle meant it had capacity to make progress and offer support to others.
It was at Humen in Guangdong where Lin Zexu[26]stood up against the English crooks who used to loiter around the beach reselling opium；tributes were paid in the former residence of Yuan Chonghuan[27]in Shuinan village in the town of Shijie[28]. Listen carefully to the clouds and you will hear the eternal eulogy of silence of white clouds and a mighty sea, a memory of human glory.It lives and breeds, as if it were distilled spiritual gold passed on through generations.
I could not help but think such practice must be crucial for the recovery of Yingxiu.
The people of Dongguan stretched their arms out to help Yingxiu after the disaster almost instinctively. By the time the State Council launched the“Wenchuan Earthquake Restoration and Targeted Aid Reconstruction Program，”and issued relevant documents, every inch of land in Yingxiu was already soaked with the sweat of people from Dongguan.
When the members of the municipal committee of Dongguan were asked on the matter, they replied almost with one voice that because Yingxiu was the epicentre, it suffered the most severe aftermath and that was because they knew how hard it was to provide assistance to Yingxiu.
Indeed, it was the epicentre, it suffered most severely and reconstruction was the hardest of all regions. It turned into the most special part of Wenchuan that had suffered from the earthquake and eyes from all around the world were fixed upon it.
Four distinct characteristics of Yingxiu made its reconstruction specific；the first one was its high goals：a modern earthquake museum, a earthquake disaster mitigation exhibition area, a model of its reconstruction process and a warm 5A-class[29]tourist town. The second one was that the design and planning processes took a long period of eight months.The third one was that all architects from China and abroad who took part in the process were successful, high-end architects, including the design teams of Paul Andreu and Ieoh Ming Pei[30].The fourth one was that the design and planning of all projects had to be firstly submitted to the State Council for approval and then implemented.
All of these factors determined the difficulty of the reconstruction.
They posed a high-level challenge to the reconstruction workers.
The restoration work there began one year later than that in other areas but both finished roughly at the same time. This was an expression of the extraordinary ability of the Dongguan people who created a miracle away from their homeland.
The reputations of the modern Yingxiu increased, which were the original high goals of the reconstruction：the Museum of Contemporary Earthquake-resistant Construction, the Earthquake Disaster Mitigation Exhibition Area……
The last one of these brand new reputations became most popular：that was the 5A-class hospitable tourist town.
Nearly all visitors of Yingxiu would immediately blurt out words of praise：it is even more charming than Europe's most splendid places！
