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Routines of daily life returning to Zhouqu
Updated: 2010-08-16 13:36
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Taking the carton of milk from the volunteers, 67-year old mudslide survivor Li Kaishan smiled.
"The breakfast is not bad, especially with milk. And I had a good sleep last night," Li said.
Saturday morning, Li came out from his blue tent in the shelter at Zhouqu No1 Middle School.
He joined the queue outside the Young Volunteer Service Station for breakfast: one bag of milk, instant noodles and one bottle of water.
Sun Yayun, who worked at the station, told Xinhua that 800 bags of milk were delivered Friday afternoon.
"Breakfasts in every shelter site are different. Some even have ham," Sun said.
Outside the school, villagers sat on small wooden stools, watching the morning news on television.
"With the television at the shelter site, I can catch up with the latest news of the rescue," said Shang
Kaisheng, a 61-year old local man. "Rescue resources sent from all over the country have made our lives better and satisfied our basic needs," he said.
With milk and ham at breakfast, and the televisions and radios, survivors of the massive mudslide in
Zhouqu county, Gansu province are seeing improvements in life, though life is still far from normal.
The rescue work is still underway.
A total of 123 tents in Zhouqu's three middle schools are accommodating 1,552 homeless people, most of whom join in the digging for the missing in the rubble and sludge.
"I'm lucky to have my family safe though I lost my house. All my belongings are buried," Shang said.
About 7,000 soldiers and armed police are still working around the clock to clear the rubble and restore transport links.
In the center of the downtown, Nan Street, once covered by a meter of mud, has been cleared with some shops opening for business and locals queuing for drinkable water holding buckets and kettles.
Tents set up by public security officers and staffers from telecom companies and post offices are open in front of the office building of Zhouqu county.
Beside them, a volunteer from East China's Shandong province provides massages, sewing, and glasses repair services for free for local people and rescuers.
"Many people come to me for help with lumbar sprains, dislocated shoulders and torn clothes," he said, declining to give his name.
Traversing the deep valley hemmed in by mountains, the roads linking Zhouqu to the outside world are plagued by the risk of mudslides.
Most of the rescue supplies have to be carried by villagers and volunteers on their backs or with tricycles from the Lianghekou transfer station about 17 km from the county seat.
"Due to the weak transport capacity, a large number of tent beds cannot be sent to the county seat," said Tian Baozhong, head of the Gansu provincial civil affairs department.
At least 610 beds are needed in the two shelter sites in No 1 and No 3 middle schools, he said.
Fang Fenlan and her family, who lived by the Bailong River before the mudslide, are sharing a tent with three other families.
Home to 14 people, the tent only has three beds within 6 square meters.
"The meals are good, but it is too humid to sleep here. My back and shoulders often hurt when I get up," Fang said.
Questions:
1. How many soldiers are still working around the clock in Zhouqu?
2. How have most of the rescue supplies been delivered to villagers?
3. How many homeless are there in Zhouqu at the moment?
Answers:
1. 7000.
2. Walked or Bike 17km from county seat.
3. 1552 people.
（中国日报网英语点津 Helen 编辑）
Todd Balazovic is a reporter for the Metro Section of China Daily. Born in Mineapolis Minnesota in the US, he graduated from Central Michigan University and has worked for the China daily for one year.
