Unfortunately many of my earthquake related pictures were deleted from my camera by police, as couldn't' perform my usual trick of switching to a memory card full of panda pictures the last time i was stopped by police. That said, I didn't exactly enjoy the feeling of being an earthquake tourist once I starting seeing things first hand. My synopsis: The damage and deathtoll is far worse than the media both here and at large lead people to believe. Some locals estimate 500,000 dead.
Dujiangyan, a quaint town with about half of the buildings still free standing, and currently about a third of all inhabitants still walking around with crutches. Most people have left - packed up and moved away already - death toll here was about 4500. Roads leading east from here are still not even close to drivable or bikable. Collapsed bridges and landslides galore.
A monk stopping roadside to reflect, another hometown completely leveled across the river. Previous inhabitants are still not allowed to re-enter the town because of the fear of disease from dead bodies etc.
To enforce this, there's a military checkpoint at the road.
A few photographers asked me to pull over to take my picture for some magazine.. i couldn't understand the rest of what they said, pretty good shot of the road conditions though.
Every ablebodied person in these areas has been givin a job in construction, people wake up daily still to rebuild their homes while living in trailer-like government housing in school yards and unnocupied valleys.
The chinese refer to the event as 5.12, (may 12th), they're own 9/11.
Unfortunately many of my earthquake related pictures were deleted from my camera by police, as couldn't' perform my usual trick of switching to a memory card full of panda pictures the last time i was stopped by police. That said, I didn't exactly enjoy the feeling of being an earthquake tourist once I starting seeing things first hand. My synopsis: The damage and deathtoll is far worse than the media both here and at large lead people to believe. Some locals estimate 500,000 dead.
Dujiangyan, a quaint town with about half of the buildings still free standing, and currently about a third of all inhabitants still walking around with crutches. Most people have left - packed up and moved away already - death toll here was about 4500. Roads leading east from here are still not even close to drivable or bikable. Collapsed bridges and landslides galore.
A monk stopping roadside to reflect, another hometown completely leveled across the river. Previous inhabitants are still not allowed to re-enter the town because of the fear of disease from dead bodies etc. 
To enforce this, there's a military checkpoint at the road.
A few photographers asked me to pull over to take my picture for some magazine.. i couldn't understand the rest of what they said, pretty good shot of the road conditions though.
Every ablebodied person in these areas has been givin a job in construction, people wake up daily still to rebuild their homes while living in trailer-like government housing in school yards and unnocupied valleys.
The chinese refer to the event as 5.12, (may 12th), they're own 9/11.
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