因为有你，川渝更美好 | Because of you, Sichuan & Chongqing will be better… :]

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The May 12 Wenchuan Earthquake has claimed the lives of many people and caused much destruction to various parts of Sichuan Province. However, Chengdu city is still as beautiful as before. In July 2008, Sichuan TV Staion recorded this clip to showcase the scenery in Chengdu to viewers with a different approach. SPICY CHENGDU has take the initiative to add English subtitles to the clip, so that you will have a better idea of the various places in Chengdu. Enjoy!

5月12日的汶川大地震虽然让许多无辜的人死去，更对我省多个地区造成了严重破坏，但地震后的成都市还是像以前一样美丽。2008年7月，中国四川电视台拍摄了上面的这个影片，用全新的角度向观众展示了成都市的如诗如画般的景色。本人也代表SPICY CHENGDU网站，主动为《鸟瞰新成都2008》加上了英文字幕，从而更方便大家欣赏成都的美景。慢慢欣赏吧！

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It is now more than one months after the May 12 Sichuan earthquake, and my hometown, Chengdu, is now in hot summer. Recently on the Internet, I saw an interesting photo showing residents in Chengdu playing mahjong in the river (link).

Chengdu is considered China’s ‘Capital of Mahjong-playing’. On the streets, you can easily see people playing mahjong. They simply shift the mahjong tables outside their shops and started playing. It is not that people in Chengdu love to gamble, but playing mahjong is considered as a very popular way to relax and foster good relations with friends, family members and colleagues.

The photo was taken in Hongkou, Dujiangyan. The place was originally a popular holiday resort for tourists to experience the thrills of boat drifting. However, the May 12 earthquake had reduced most of its wooden resorts to rubble. At that time, it was uncertain whether tourists would still be keen to visit Hongkou again. The future of the town’s tourism industry was also a big question mark.

However, it is quite encouraging to see that the resort has revived within such a short while. Now, many residents in Chengdu have gone to Hongkou and shifted the mahjong tables and chairs into the river. They have also set up very big umbrellas for each table to block the sunlight. In other words, while they are sitting next to the table and playing mahjong, their legs are submerged in the cool, clean river water.

It is also good to see that people from earthquake-affected areas are fast recovering from the psychological wound. I remember just one week after the May 12 earthquake struck, a journalist from Beijing came to Chengdu, and spotted many people eating in hot pot restaurants in downtown Chengdu. The journalist criticised that people in Chengdu should not have gone to eat hot pot as they are supposed to feel solemn and sad for the earthquake victims.

Little did this journalist know about the local culture, that no matter what happens, life still has to go back to normal and you should not just mourn, mourn and mourn. Instead of mourning for the earthquake victims every day, isn’t it better to live a normal life? As a result, this journalist was counter-attacked by many netizens. I also feel that the people in Chengdu have the right to do whatever they want. Life seriously has to go back to normal since the massive earthquake has claimed almost 70,000 lives already. We should not allow the earthquake to affect those who are still alive in any way. Psychological defence is rather important here.

I am also glad that despite the proximity of my hometown Chengdu to the epicentre Wenchuan and the earthquake magnitude of 8.0, my two grandmothers’ bungalows were not severely affected at all, except the presence of little cracks. But it’s okay, since the military is going to rebuild their houses for free.

The Chengdu-Chongqing Economic Region and other economic regions in China

So it has been quite a few days since a brand new school year has started. In August this year, the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games will be held in the capital of China, and I am very excited about it as a Chinese. You already can see a countdown flash plugin on my blog now. Time flies. I remember in July 2001 when I first heard that Beijing managed to become the host city for the 2008 Olympic Games, everybody in Chengdu was overjoyed. In just seven years, many new facilities were built to cater for the athletes participating in the Beijing Olympic Games. Meanwhile, many changes have happened to me, as I became more matured.

As students in my batch are going to JC1 next year, studying the Extended Curriculum in Hwa Chong Institution (College Section) is definitely one of my goals. I will work hand in hand together with my classmates and friends this year to ensure that we all have a stable foundation, so that we will not suffer in JC next year. This year reminds me of year 2004, when I was preparing for the Primary Schools Leaving Examination (PSLE). Although I am not taking the O Levels but am in the Integrated Programme, it is still important to ensure that I have a good foundation before I study the JC Curriculum.

The Chengdu-Chongqing Pilot Reform & Economic Region

My senior, Branden Seow, recently approached me to help him in his China Studies in Chinese (CSC) research paper. He was a caring senior of mine in NCC last time, and he is now in JC2. The 城乡一体化 idea of the Chinese government attracted him a lot, and I must say that he has chosen the right person to work with. I have a lot of information on Chengdu and Chongqing’s ecnomic development, and I am sure they will be of great help to his research paper. In June last year, Chengdu and Chongqing were selected by Beijing as trial zones to pilot a reform. The objectives of the reform is to actualise the equal standards of living and economic development in both urban and rural areas. Since 1997 when Chongqing was separated from Sichuan Province and became Chongqing Municipality together with Wanxian (now known as Wanzhou) and Qianjiang, the concept of Chongqing’s economic development can be summarised as “small city leads big village”. The following diagram shows the main city, Wanzhou and Qianjiang shall influence economic development in regions nearby, also known as the “One Circle, Two Wings” Concept:

The “One Circle, Two Wings” Concept

On Monday, I passed a 6-disc DVD series to Branden. It contains the recordings of the 14-hour LIVE telecast by China Chongqing Television on 18 June 2007, with important materials featuring Chongqing’s economic development over the 10 years since it became a direct-controlled municipality. Togerther with that is another documentary series named “Memories of the Land of Abundance” which features the economic development of Chengdu. Branden says that he plans to watch them over the weekend. Branden developed the interest to research on this topic as he felt that the political systems in China and Singapore are quite similiar to each other. I wish Branden success in his journey to discover more!

This afternoon, Yin Jiunn, me and Jing Yi went to Ang Mo Kio’s Jubilee Entertainment Complex to catch the latest horror movie, One Missed Call. It was indeed a thrilling experience. Though it is somehow related to the popular Japanese horror story, The Ring, but I am glad to see that the storyline has much difference as compared to the Japanese version. There were some other movies last time with almost the same storyline as The Ring, and the only difference was the Japanese actors were then Western actors. These movies get viewers like me very bored. One Missed Call is definitely a nice movie to watch.