Woman rescued 9 days after China quake
Meanwhile, the government ordered state agencies to cut planned spending by 5 percent this year, which will go to create a $10 billion reconstruction fund, the State Council, China's Cabinet, said in a statement.
Some signs of normalcy returned to the quake area, as schools opened in some of the camps where the homeless were being housed, but a lack of tents underscored the massive task facing the government in sheltering 5 million who lost their homes.
Countries and organizations heeded China's call for help in sheltering some of the homeless. The U.N. refugee agency said it has offered 11,000 tents, and the European Union offered 7,500 tents along with blankets and medical supplies.
As China switches to reconstruction and recovery operations, state media said the government plans to rebuild Beichuan city, one of the hardest hit, in a new location.
"Safety is the top priority in selecting a new location and reconstruction," the official Xinhua News Agency quoted Beichuan Communist Party chief Song Ming as saying. "We plan to build a monument and a memorial to commemorate the quake victims on the previous location."
She was taken by helicopter to a hospital to treat multiple fractures in her right arm, ribs and lower back, but Dr. Pu Jinhui said her injuries were not life-threatening, according to the report.
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 41,000 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.
Two big tents were set up on basketball courts to serve as a school, but each class met for only an hour because of the lack of space.
"It is different from our school but the teacher is very nice. We don't have homework now so we can play," said Li Hong, whose school farther north in Beichuan was destroyed.
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.
Recent comments
Wow! That is amazing!!
Lucky Puppy | May 21, 2008 at 2:16 p.m.
So many people in America, it seems like, don't understand China...
China is an ally | May 21, 2008 at 12:39 p.m.
I feel for the people having lost their loved ones. A lot of the...
so sad | May 21, 2008 at 10:15 a.m.
