China opens schools in quake zone's tent cities
Schools began to open Wednesday in some of China's newly formed tent cities, where the government is struggling to provide shelter for many of the 5 million people left homeless in last week's earthquake.
Near the epicenter at Chengdu's Qingyang district sports center, 9-year-old Gao Luwei played with friends after attending classes in the camp's one-room elementary school.
"I don't know how long we'll be here, but I hope we are here the shortest time possible," said Gao, whose regular school in the resort town of Dujiangyan was damaged in the earthquake that killed more than 40,000 people.
Deng Yaping, four-time Olympic gold medalist in table tennis and an organizer with the Beijing Olympics, was shown on state TV talking to schoolchildren in a classroom in a blue tent in Mianyang, north of the provincial capital, Chengdu.
An official said it was important for children to return to their established routines of school and play to help overcome the trauma of loss.
"The most important thing is to return some semblance of normalcy to the kids' lives," said Zhu Jiang, a Chengdu city official who acts as spokesman for the camp.
"We don't want them to feel like they're refugees, but like they've simply moved to another place for a sort of extended holiday," he said.
Compounding the misery for the 5 million left homeless in the disaster, rain was forecast for parts of Sichuan province.
The government has already issued an urgent appeal for tents and brought in the first foreign teams of doctors and field hospitals, some of whom were swapping out with overseas search and rescue specialists.
The switch underscored a shift in the response to China's worst disaster in three decades from the emergency stage to recovery operations and for many, enduring hardship.
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