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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.
