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Sichuan learns to help itself

(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-06-12 07:49

A rugged diaspora is aiding the Sichuan province as it recovers from the quake, Newsweek reported.

The magazine reported a case of a migrant worker in Shenzhen named Yu Hongbin.

Yu was visiting his home village in Sichuan when the ground started cracking on May 12. The earthquake destroyed the village.

But "now Yu sits in a bus-station waiting room, on his way back to Shenzhen. The best way to help his family, he figures, is to keep on working," Newsweek reported.

"But I'm not going to waste money like I did before," Yu said. "Now I'm going to send $140 a month back home to my folks. The earthquake made me regret I never sent them money before."

Yu's sense of responsibility was a small token of the feeling of the more than 10 million Sichuanese migrant workers.

"You begin to see a silver lining for this western provinceThe money they send home will be critical to helping the Sichuanese recover," the magazine said.

Sichuan is the largest single source of migrant workers, accounting for at least a tenth the estimated 200 million rural-born laborers now working in Chinese cities.

The Sichuanese - former Chinese leader Deng Xiaoping was one - have a reputation for boldness, stamina and pragmatism and are renowned for their willingness to travel for a decent job, Newsweek said.

The Qingdao Construction Group shipped 35 workers from the quake-stricken city of Guangyuan to new construction jobs-in Algeria, where 3,000 Chinese laborers will build a university.

"We plan to recruit as many as possible from the disaster area," says company official Sun Hongjun.

Another quake survivor in Mianzhu, Chen Dagui, is preparing for a third stint as a farm worker in Russia, saying "after the disaster, people say I'm lucky to have such a good job."

That resilience will be key to rebuilding Sichuan, the magazine said.

(China Daily 06/12/2008 page9)