Rebuilding gets under way as Pishan county faces its first winter after tragedy killed 3 in July

People packed the weekly street market in Pishan county, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, on Sunday.

The most popular items to buy were duvets and blankets as people from nearby villages whose homes were damaged or destroyed in an earthquake in early July were getting ready to move into new houses before the winter.

Pishan county, in southern Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture, was hit by a 6.5-magnitude earthquake on July 3. Three people were killed and 263 others injured. More than 12,000 houses were destroyed in the quake.

Pixina township was one of the worst hit areas in Pishan, with many houses destroyed. So far the construction of 800 new houses has been completed in the village where Abulit Memet lives.

All of Abulit's five houses collapsed in the earthquake. Luckily, no one was hurt. He and his family moved into their new house on Nov 1. The government has provided each affected family with 30,000 yuan ($4,700) to rebuild, and free building materials.

"I only spent 15,000 yuan on the new house, which has two bedrooms and two living rooms. It's really cosy," said Abulit, 47. "We are looking forward to starting a new life after surviving the earthquake."

To help families get through the winter, each household can also receive 500 kg of coal provided by the government.

After the earthquake, President Xi Jinping asked local authorities to regard reconstruction as a major task which could help consolidate ethnic unity, safeguard border stability, accelerate poverty relief and promote local economic and social development.

He stressed that people affected by the quake must have houses to live in before the winter comes. The central government has allocated 400 million yuan for reconstruction of Pishan, inhabited mainly by people from the Uygur ethnic group.

cuijia@chinadaily.com.cn

People attend a bazaar in Pishan county in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region on Sunday. The county was hit by a magnitude-6.5 earthquake in July. Photos by Liu Xin / China News Service

A family have breakfast in their new home provided by the Pishan county government. Their old house was damaged in the earthquake.

Workers construct a home for residents whose houses were damaged in the earthquake in Pixina township.

Students attend a class at a primary school in Pishan county. The county's education authority offered stoves and 60 metric tons of coal for heating through the winter.

People who havemoved into new homes in Jiayituolake village collect coal provided by the local government for cooking and heating on Friday.

A natural gas boiler is put into use in Pishan county on Saturday. It can provide heating to 1,500 homes in the old town area.

(China Daily 11/26/2015 page7)