Eco-tourism city to come up in quake-hit Yushu

BEIJING - An eco-tourism city will be built in Yushu in China’s Qinghai province, devastated by a 7.1 magnitude earthquake, a media report said Monday.

The post-disaster reconstruction of Yushu is already on the agenda, and an eco-tourism plateau city is expected to be built in the future, even as relief work is still going on, China Daily reported Monday quoting Beijing News.

An overall plan for the reconstruction will be handed in by the province by April 26 to the ministry of housing and urban-rural development for approval, while a disaster assessment report will be completed by Tuesday to guide the region’s post-disaster reconstruction work, the report said, citing the Qinghai seismological bureau.

Chinese President Hu Jintao had paid a visit Sunday to the quake-hit region Yushu and assured people of new homes and schools and steadfast relief work.

“There will be new schools… There will be new homes,” Hu wrote on a blackboard in a makeshift classroom inside a tent, according to Xinhua.

The president later led a group of orphaned students in reading aloud the words he wrote on the blackboard.

Hu had cut short his visit to South America and returned to China Saturday, and immediately headed for the worst-hit Gyegu town in Yushu.

While visiting a makeshift tent home, a Tibetan man told the president that instead of food and clothing, his biggest worry was about housing and school education that was halted by the quake.

Hu assured him that the government will rebuild homes and resume classes for children as soon as possible.

The president then visited the injured receiving treatment at a stadium in Yushu and made sure there were enough medical supplies.

“The top priority is to rescue those still buried alive and to treat the injured. Each life must be cherished,” Hu was quoted as saying.

“We must take good care of the quake-affected people to make sure they have food to eat, clean water to drink, a place to sleep and clothes to keep warm. We must speed up infrastructure construction and pave the way for relief work and post-quake reconstruction,” he said.

“We must create conditions for children to resume classes as soon as possible, even if it has to be in makeshift classrooms. There is a lot more work to do and we will continue to make efforts,” he said.

The 7.1-magnitude quake that struck Yushu prefecture Wednesday morning left at least 1,706 people dead and 12,128 injured while 256 are still missing.