Tangshan, 18 years after giant earthquake

[General Huo]

3:24 AM, July 28th, 1976, a 7.8-magnitude giant earthquake hit Tangshan city, China. The city was

shaked to ruins, 242,769 human beings were dead and 164,851 were seriously wound. China was then in the

height of Cultural Revolution and refused all foreign aid.

18 years later, Tangshan is reborn as a modern vibrant new city.


Tangshan city after earthquake in 1976



































Tangshan city in 2003

[Þróndeimr]

Beautiful city, its totaly changed since the earthquake. But General Huo, isn't it supose to be 27 years after the giant earthquake? Because i think it is 27 years between 1976 and 2003, and 29 years ago this year. So its 30 years since the earthquake next year....

[deli]

- tangshan has height limit before (max. 6 level) after the earthquake. They changed the rule few years back.
- tang shan sit near Beijing & tianjing. provide many primary goods to support these 2 big brothers: coal, water, electricity, cement, steel, food.....
- tangshan face serious pollution problem due to its heavy industries, it get better nowadays, but still not enuf
- tangshan region was also a hot battle field during ww2. many famous anti-jap stories happened there.
- tangshan ppl are straight, honest, brave & shy. she is relateively poor-- tangshan live in the shadow of beijing and tianjing even the famous qinghuangdao.

Hope central gov't can release more resource to her or at least take off the heavy burden...

[Victoria]

An amazing transformation, thanks for sharing.

[Comdot]

I came by this through Google and my immediate reaction was how much the city looks like Beijing, which I visited last summer.

By coincidence this news article came up today on Reuters:

http://uk.reuters.com/article/worldN...13929620070611

China decries "senseless" destruction of heritage
Mon Jun 11, 2007 3:45AM BST
BEIJING (Reuters) - China, whose cities are being transformed overnight as the economy races ahead, has hit out at "senseless" destruction of its cultural heritage and historical buildings, state media said on Monday.

Communist China was suffering "a third round of havoc" after the disastrous Great Leap Forward in the late 1950s and the chaos of the 1966-76 Cultural Revolution, it said.

Qiu Baoxing, vice-minister of construction, hit out at local officials for their "senseless actions" that have "devastated" historical sites and cultural relics in the name of renovation.

"Some local officials seem to be altering the appearance of cities with the determination of moving the mountain and altering the water course," he told a news briefing on Sunday, the China Daily said.

"They are totally unaware of the value of cultural heritage."

Qiu also slammed the "blind pursuit of large, new and exotic" buildings by some local governments.

"Many cities have a similar construction style. It is like 1,000 cities having the same appearance," he said.

Tong Mingkang, deputy director of the State Administration of Cultural Heritage, lashed out at some local governments for dismantling valuable historical sites and erecting fake replacements.

"It is like tearing up an invaluable painting and replacing it with a cheap print," he was quoted as saying.

Culture Minister Sun Jiazheng apologised last year for not doing enough to protect historic buildings from demolition.

Many traditionally low Chinese structures have been making way for skyscrapers in Beijing and other big cities, though some old courtyards have been renovated and turned into chic residences costing thousands of dollars to rent.

Other architectural schemes have been criticised for looking out of place in Beijing, home to UNESCO world heritage sites such as the old imperial palace, the Forbidden City and the Temple of Heaven.

China did not even have a law protecting cultural relics until 1982 and during the chaos of the Cultural Revolution many priceless artefacts that were not taken to Taiwan at the end of the civil war in 1949 were destroyed by Red Guards.

Beijing's historic centre and city walls had already been knocked down by communist planners to make way for a ring road, as well as the concrete expanse of Tiananmen Square and the monolithic Great Hall of the People.

Chinese archaeologists in northwest Shaanxi province meanwhile have unearthed four, coloured wooden figures dating back to the Zhou Dynasty and believed to be at least 500 years older than the terracotta warriors, Xinhua news agency said.

This has happened in many cities accross the world throughout history. In Britain these sites are now protected.

[feifeiinmyname]

A fired power plant in Tangshan ( July 2006)

[pflo777]

with "fired" you mean coal-fired?

[feifeiinmyname]

Originally Posted by pflo777

with "fired" you mean coal-fired?

yes

[CarlosBlueDragon]

Oh my god!! So...i very Sad!! I know heard Tangshan but i forgot where nearly cities!! Do u have Tangshan is Map of China?? please show to me!! thanks!!

[duskdawn]

http://ditu.google.com/maps?f=q&hl=z...wloc=addr&om=1

[CarlosBlueDragon]

ermm... Thanks for duskdawn!! but i dont know read chinese language!! my chinese language is poor!!

[duskdawn]

NVM that's just a map.

[General Huo]