More from Mianyang, China

My pictures from Mianyang and Chengdu are snapshots from more than 11 years ago. I was there for less than three weeks but those weeks remain a highlight of ten years of working abroad. It is heartbreaking to see the images and hear the news coming from there this week.


The Morning Ferry

Note: Clicking on the pictures will take you to it’s page in my Flickr photoset where you can see more pictures from Mianyang and Chengdu.

From the L.A. Times

MIANYANG, CHINA -- Everywhere you turned Wednesday, there was more bad news: The official death toll from China's earthquake climbed to nearly 15,000, with thousands still missing; 391 dams were damaged; and in Mianyang county, 3,600 passengers were trapped in trains, and 120 coal miners lost underground.

Fishing

From the Chicago Tribune

MIANYANG, China — The survivors surged into every available space: on top of flattened ping-pong tables, inside an abandoned boxing ring, between treadmills — any place they could find in a sports stadium that has become a settlement for the displaced in one of Sichuan's hardest-hit cities.

A quick search of photos posted on Flickr shows that the cities have changed dramatically since I was there, more cars on the streets, more modern buildings, more shopping; tangible results of China’s economic boom.

See: Commentary by Andrew Smeall, Asia Society

The disaster unfolding in Sichuan, China reveals the tragic side of China's focus on rapid economic growth. Although the Chinese government has responded with admirable swiftness and determination in the face of this disaster, some of the damage, and future tragedies, can only be avoided through more rigorous attention to building codes….

This earthquake merely highlights examples of a trend that has become evident across much of China's economy over the last few years—a trend of profits coming before people. Supporting environmental regulatory industries through fines levied on polluters ironically insures that regulators profit from the continued existence of polluters.

Click here to see a slideshow of 30 images taken in Mianyang and Chengdu in the early spring of 1997.