Developed regions helping disaster-stricken undeveloped areas has rarely been seen in the world, said representatives of the Asian Development Bank (ADB), which in January 2009 provided the bank's first grant of $400 million to enhance disaster management in China to help in the aftermath of the earthquake.

Upgraded structures

The country's plan for post-disaster recovery is aimed at more than just restoring victims back to their previous lives. Innovation and adjustments to industrial structures are also part of the recovery plan.

"We paid attention to sustainable development in rebuilding Mianchi and we hope to gradually transform the local agriculture-dominated economic pattern to that of a service industry that focuses on tourism," said Chen Renfu, head of the Zhuhai rebuilding team.

He and his team have studied the culture and history as well as the geology in Mianchi, where 60 percent of the population are ethnic Qiang people. The volunteers have developed a plan that features Qiang culture to tap into tourism. Local authorities have already approved the blueprint and the projects are underway.

The Ma family of Laojie Village lost all farmland during the earthquake and is now thinking of other ways to make a living.

"My husband will work part-time to help out sometimes. My daughter works at a restaurant in the capital city of Chengdu and I sell folk-style embroidery," Xu told Beijing Review. Her village has an advantage in developing tourism with its proximity to part of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road, which traversed Yunnan and Sichuan provinces and Tibet. Dating back to the Tang Dynasty (618-907), the ancient commercial passage also promoted cultural, religious and ethnic exchanges.

Xu heard that the tourism development plan for her village is to come out in May this year. By that time, she will have a souvenir stand by the side of the Ancient Tea-Horse Road to sell handmade crafts.

Huang Shirong, head of Lianhe Village in Longxi Township, has a clear vision for his village that will benefit from the new plan. In the past, Longxi was a closed place hidden among the mountains. But with the help of their partner rebuilding team from Guangdong's Zhanjiang, new roads are being built to link them to the outside world.

Zhanjiang volunteers are also designing a tourism plan to tap the uniqueness of the place. Being a settlement inhabited by the Qiang ethnic minority, it is the key area to highlight the culture of the Shibi, who are traditional Qiang shamans and are regarded as guardians of the Qiang culture.

Lianhe Village used to be a place characterized by many residents but little farmland. The annual per-capita income of the village stood at a mere 1,300 yuan ($191) in 2009, said Huang, the village head who expects that number to rise to 2,500 yuan ($367) in 2010 thanks to the new service industry and tourism.

Though there is a new drive to bring in tourism money, traditional agriculture has not been forgotten. Wenchuan's Sanjiang Township grows Chinese gooseberry and Guangdong's Huizhou City donated 100,000 yuan ($14,700) to double the fruit's planted area. An agricultural development foundation has been created by Guangdong's Zhaoqing volunteers to help guide local farmers in Wenchuan's Keku Township to grow economically useful crops.

The Guangdong-Wenchuan Industrial Park, covering an area of 4.5 square km, is one of the key industrial projects for earthquake recovery in Wenchuan and is being billed as the incubator for Guangdong enterprises to settle in and provide more job opportunities for locals.

According to Sichuan's official statistics, aid partners have committed to 64 projects totaling 2.19 billion yuan ($321 million) in the province that will adjust the local industrial structure.

Liberating minds

Post-earthquake aid will not stop as the two-year-scheduled term ends. As is mentioned in the overall recovery plan, "establishing long-term cooperation" is key to a successful recovery.

Zhen Lifu, head of Guangdong's Jiangmen City work team, said that open-minded and advanced ideas have been brought to the undeveloped quake zone and may be the real "seeds of the hope" compared to the public establishments that they have helped build.

"The changing of minds will be of much more value than the actual money and projects that we aided," Zhen said.

"Guangdong's help to Wenchuan means much more on the spiritual level than on the material level," said Qing, Party chief of Wenchuan County.

The local government lacked expertise initially for the Mianchi rebuilding projects, especially in surveying, mapping and planning, said Mianchi Mayor Jiang.

"Our local staff has worked with Zhuhai volunteers, who have taught and trained us in the meantime," Jiang said.

Chen of the Zhuhai team, said that he hoped locals have changed their mindset and are now prepared to work in the new service industry after all the projects and tourism plans that have been completed.

"The outsiders helped with all kinds of establishments. It is the quake-hit people themselves who now must use and manage these facilities, and further develop the economy," said Jiang.

2008 Earthquake in Sichuan

An 8.0-magnitude earthquake hit Sichuan Province on May 12, 2008. About 70,000 people were killed and millions of people were left homeless. It was the deadliest earthquake to hit China since the 1976 Tangshan quake. People all over the world and from all walks of life made donations to help the survivors. In November 2008, the Central Government announced that it would spend 1 trillion yuan ($146.5 billion) over the next three years on reconstruction in the quake-hit area.