Today we both got up at about 8 in the morning. We got to sleep on a pretty nice bed that had a heated blanket so it was pretty nice. However, I found out shortly after getting up that Justin didn’t have such a nice sleep. I was able to get a full eight hours of sleep, but Justin only had five as he was up until three talking to his mom. After we got dressed and everything, we ate breakfast at his cousin sister’s apartment then we all left and drove in two vehicles to Du Jiang Yan (éƒ½æ±Ÿå °), which was pretty much the epicenter of the May 12, 2008 earthquake. This day is pretty important because although it has been nearly eight months since the earthquake, it has devastated the city. Millions died and many were left homeless. It really was a tragic event with many schools in the city simply collapsing taking everyone inside with it.
After we all arrived in the city, a tour guide was found and we were taken up the side of a mountain in car and arrived at the famous Dujiangyan irrigation system. It is amazing in many respects, but the main one was that although many buildings around it had crumbled and nearby roads were damaged, the system was untouched. It was built in 250BC so it’s been around for about 2,200 years and has been running great since the beginning. There are many pictures below of it. After we got done with pictures of the system, we drove back to the main part of the city and had lunch at a restaurant that was on the side of a river. The food was good, but I later learned that because it was a tourist location, it was also overpriced considerably.
After lunch, we all got back in our cars and we were driven around the city some more. There are some pictures below of earthquake damage from various locations around the city. We also went and saw camps which were built quickly to house the survivors while the city is being worked on. Most of the bigger buildings which fell in the earthquake are gone now leaving only some rubble remaining, yet other buildings remain as there are more important things to be working on most likely. Many buildings along the streets are empty as they simply are no longer safe to live in. Next we drove back to Pi Xian and met more of Justin’s family at their house in a very rural area. While waiting, I saw some people playing Mahjong. Now, I wanted to get a picture but didn’t as I didn’t think it was respectful, but it’s played quite differently than in America. There were four people sitting around a table with stacks of tiles and that is how it is played in China. I didn’t watch for too long, but it looks a lot more difficult than what is played in America.
We then went for the first dinner of the night. Due to conflicting relationships in the family, we were to have two dinners that night although the first people didn’t know that. The first dinner was a hotpot. It was better than the lunch and also cheaper since it was outside of a tourist area. After that one, we were dropped off back at his cousin sister’s apartment where we had our second dinner. I liked this one better not only because of the food, but the people. It just seems more natural to be around them (his cousin sister, her daughter and friend, and that immediate family along with his mom). Justin and I sorted through luggage after dinner and then we went back to the second apartment for the night. Before sleep, several people, along with Justin, his mom and I watched footage of the earthquake. This is footage that was taken by actual people in Du Jiang Yan and is not footage that would be shown on any TV network in China. It was very hard to watch most of it as it was pretty graphic in what was shown. As such, it became obvious why most of the footage was not shown on any news network that I’d seen. We ended up not watching all of it as it was too graphic and instead went to sleep at midnight again.
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