April 10, 1999
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| April 10, 1999 | atimes.com | |
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| China Tongchuan's cave dwellers look askance at boom town By Pushpa Adhikari TONGCHUAN, China - Decades ago he was among those who fought bravely for the establishment of a new China, but Wang Li, now in his 80s, no longer wants to talk about his ''glorious'' past as a revolutionary. Instead, he looks frail and tired as he recounts how the China he had helped build has been unable to look after him, and how he continues to live in one of the many caves here in Tongchuan. As China continues on its path of more market reforms, people like Wang in places like Tongchuan are finding themselves left by the wayside. This city is part of the east central province of Shaanxi, one of the main tourist destinations in China. Sprawling over an area of about 3,382 square kilometers, Tongchuan itself played a significant role in China's ancient history and is the site of the mausoleum of Emperor Huangdi, the legendary ''father of the Chinese nation''. Tongchuan, however, is prized neither for its past nor the few attractions it offers. Rather, it is known best for being one of the country's major sources of coal and construction materials. Its annual output of about 11 million tonnes of coal makes up about 30 percent of Shaanxi's total coal production. Tongchuan is also the province's most important production center for cement. There are more than 30 huge cement factories here, with a combined output of four million tonnes a year. For all such revenue-earning activities, though, most of Tongchuan's 840,000 people remain unaware of any benefits they should be getting as a result, or of the massive development going on elsewhere in China. Many of them still live in caves that were carved out by their ancestors. The only difference they can discern between their past and their present is the increase in pollution brought about by the coal mines and the cement factories. While the city government has realized that Tongchuan has become very polluted, it has failed to take any measures to correct the situation, critics say. Instead, it has decided to establish a new city just 10 kilometers west of Tongchuan. According to the Tongchuan deputy governor, the new city will be able to attract foreign investment because it will have more facilities than those available in the old city. Tongchuan Xinqu - literally ''Tongchuan New City'' - already has many high-rise buildings, and many more are under construction. It has been named an economic and technical development zone. By the end of this year, the local government expects the completion of the first phase of the zone, marking its official start as the new center for politics, economy and culture in Tongchuan.. The local people cannot help but compare the attention and money the local government is apparently pouring in to Tongchuan Xinqu with what they have been getting for years. For instance, while local officials say many Tongchuan cave dwellers have been given new homes, the majority are still there, with few or no modern amenities. But, according to some former cave dwellers now resettled in the city center, the conditions in the caves are not so bad: they are warm during winter and cool in summer. In truth, they say, they still like spending the hot summer nights in the caves, which they use as storage spaces during the rest of the year. Residents say Tongchuan's yellow earth is good for cave dwelling since it is soft enough to work on with simple tools. The numbers of chambers in a cave vary according to personal preference and the requirements of the family that will live in it. Those who have the money to spare add a door at the entrance for privacy and security. Locals say there have been instances when cave dwellers buried alive by falling ''ceilings'' have gone undiscovered for days, even months. City authorities do not know exactly how many cave dwellings there are in Tongchuan. People like Wang are wary of the local government's promises of eradicating poverty and helping Tongchuan residents. They say that while the few who have money are likely to snap up the modern apartments and houses in Tongchuan Xinqu, most of the cave dwellers may not be able to afford to move even if they wanted to. That may pose complications if the local government pushes through with the effective abandonment of what has become a grimy and dreary city in favor of the shiny new Tongchuan Xinqu. Wang himself says he no longer believes the words of the local officials, although he adds that he is willing to wait and see if they honor their commitment to people like him. But his pessimism is getting the better of him. Says Wang: ''We poor will die poor." (Inter Press Service) | |||||||||
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