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 30 August 2008 18:14 BST

Eyewitness – Sichuan aftermath

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inthenews.co.uk talks to Edward Holroyd Pearce, a British businessman whose weekend spent helping out in earthquake-hit Sichuan nearly ended with his death.

Mr Holroyd Pearce, 26, had flown into Mianyang airport from Beijing early on Saturday to help a friend volunteering for a month to settle in.

Little did he realise as he arrived that the following day would find him on a mountain road as the 6.4 tremor aftershock which destroyed tens of thousands of homes struck.

Positive impressions

That was all yet to come on Saturday morning in Mianyang, however, where the sheer number of volunteers was immediately noticeable.

Mr Holroyd Pearce spent several hours at Jiuzhou stadium, where until two days previously up to 20,000 people from the disaster zone had been housed.

The remaining thousands were being shepherded on to buses and Mr Holroyd Pearce joined an impressively-numbered task force helping in this process.

"The Chinese public had responded very quickly and in great numbers to the need for volunteers," he said. "There were enormous numbers of volunteers, people from nearby cities and cities further away.

"There were also a lot of trucks delivering donations. These tended to be trucks from big state-owned companies, like Tsingtao Beer Company, handing out mineral water and instant noodles."

In the afternoon Mr Holroyd Pearce delivered a bundle of blankets, together with dried soup and medicines, to an orphanage he had been in touch with, in Deyang city, near Mianzhu. These were not earthquake orphans, who Chinese people from faraway cities had been clamouring to adopt. "There is a distinction in Chinese people's minds," he observed.

Meeting the victims

It was immediately clear on arrival in Mianzhu city that the situation was much more serious. Here around 15 per cent of buildings were destroyed and work to rescue survivors was ongoing.

"We saw army troops with shovels over their shoulders, all half-marching, half-running to whichever site to do their digging. The streets were filled with people too scared to go back into their homes, for fear of aftershocks. Even those in quite respectable buildings got hold of tents and plastics and were sleeping in the streets."

Next on the list was a visit to the temporary campus of Beichuan middle school, one of the worst-hit towns of the earthquake. Mr Holroyd Pearce was among the first group of volunteers allowed on to the campus and spoke with many of the surviving children, who had lost one in four of their classmates.

"One of them was saying four of her classmates were trapped. She was joking about who were the fastest to run out. 'Oh, my classmate Lily – she was out like a bolt of lightening.' And everyone laughed – but of course what they were also talking about was that many of their friends who didn't make it out ended up being crushed."

Past the headlines

After hiring a driver to take them further into the earthquake zone, Mr Holroyd Pearce and his two friends found themselves advancing into a mountainous area called Qingchuan.

"This is another part of Sichuan province which has been equally badly hit but hasn't received quite as much headline coverage as Beichuan. We drove in through a checkpoint, with one organisation saying they haven't got enough volunteers in there.

"No one was following the rules as well – things like placing latrines too close to tents, that sort of thing. A whole group of army volunteers had had to be called away the previous night to put out a wheat-burning fire – it's a tradition that the stalks are burned immediately after harvesting takes place.

"There's a balance, a fine line between carrying on with normal life and doing stupid stuff."

The aftershock

Mr Holroyd Pearce and his friends were engaged in a "heated argument" later that day as they drove back along a mountain road when the 6.4 aftershock struck.

"Looking out of the window I saw wild goats running along the side of the road, going crazy. I don't think I really felt the tremor. But a rock fell off the cliff face in front of us, about the size of a saucepan.

"We were in a group of cars, like a convoy, and everyone started beeping their horns really loudly to get out of the area. I was just terrified. That's the first thing you're not supposed to do in an avalanche situation."

Now safely back in Britain, Mr Holroyd Pearce is reflective about the strength of the Chinese spirit seen on his trip to disaster-hit Sichuan.

"Clearly the Chinese people are pulling together at this difficult time - the army and other organisations have mobilised rapidly. However there are still areas that need more help and more resources - it will be a long time before things are back to normal."

Edward Holroyd Pearce is director of China Consulting, a consultancy firm specialising in strategic advice for firms wanting to work in China. He was talking to Alex Stevenson.End of story


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