Isolated villagers welcome visitor on their rocky road to recovery
I had prepared for a tough journey to Xuanping village, which was surrounded by high mountains and located at the far end of the Tangjiashan 'quake lake' created by the May disaster.
I got to Duba town in Beichuan county at about 2pm and learned that Xuanping was only about 30km away. Locals then told me the only road had been blocked that morning, when a food truck overturned on the narrow mountain trail, so the four-wheel drive I was using wouldn't get through.
'Even if there were no overturned trucks, the path is extremely muddy and dangerous for your car,' my driver was told by a farmer who said he trekked the trail himself that morning.
'You'd better go back. Or, if you insist, you should hire a motorcycle and try your luck,' he suggested.
I had made appointments with Xuanping villagers and had also brought some medicine for them, so I had no choice but to go ahead. I thought: 'It won't be too bad to have a little adventure.'
But the real journey proved a lot harder than I expected.
Vehicles carrying food, other life necessities and construction materials were stuck halfway along the road and could not make U-turns. So motorcycles seemed the only reliable way to transport food, medicine and passengers.
But as my motorcycle driver and I set out, it quickly became difficult to keep our balance, find our way in the sea of mud, or wind our way through the high mountains. The rugged, bumpy road proved too much for the motorcycle, the chain of which suddenly broke.
My driver and I were stranded just over the top of a mountain, where I couldn't even phone my Xuanping friends for help due to the lack of a signal.
So we walked down the mountain along the almost-deserted trail until a Xuanping villager arrived on his motorcycle.
The steep trail was even more breathtaking after dark, with the quake lake just a few steps away and the faint glow from the headlamp barely lighting up the road.
The journey seemed to take forever. It was 8.30pm by the time I finally got to Xuanping, and I was exhausted. But that feeling was soon replaced by sheer joy after I met Wang Yucai and his family, who had been awaiting my arrival for hours.
'Welcome to my home. You are the first journalist I have seen in the village since the earthquake,' said Mr Wang.
I was overwhelmed by what I saw in the village and how the villagers were coping with their hardships since the devastating quake. I will never forget those people.
They talked about the difficulty caused by the soaring cost of living, pushed up by shortages and isolation. Even so, they had managed to plant vegetables and cook their favourite spicy dishes. 'We want to have a better tomorrow, so please help us,' Mr Wang said.
