NPR: Feeling the Pace of Reconstruction

Feeling the Pace of Reconstruction

By Andrea Hsu

There's been lots in the news about how quickly the Chinese government wants to rebuild and get people into new homes - all rural residents by the end of this year. Today, in a village outside of Mianzhu, we got a feel for how that might be accomplished.

These folks work seven days a week, nine hours a day. The homeowners think they'll be in their houses by summer. Andrea Hsu/NPR

We spent the afternoon on a construction site, and somehow, we were always in the way of someone. First, it was the guys who were piling up bricks within a new foundation. Then it was a guy with a wheelbarrow full of freshly-mixed mortar. Then, two guys carrying a wood plank used to shape a foundation. At one point, getting out of the way of someone hauling something landed my right foot in a deep muddy puddle. Fortunately I was wearing waterproof boots.

In the US, I couldn't imagine walking onto a construction site and hanging out all afternoon. Just one of the many things that makes working in China super interesting.

9:30 AM ET | 04-22-2009 | permalink

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We first launched this blog in the spring of 2008, when a team from NPR's All Things Considered headed to Chengdu, China, the capital of Sichuan Province, to prepare for a week of special programming on China. On May 12, 2008, the staff found themselves in the middle of an unexpected story when a massive earthquake struck southwestern China.

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