By John Sexton
China.org.cn reporter from Sichuan

Li Chuanfu wants to rebuild the spacious farmhouse that collapsed in the Sichuan earthquake last May 12, but the gap between building costs and the government subsidies on offer may be too wide for him to bridge.

On May 9, Li Chuanfu stands in the ruins of his farmhouse that was destroyed by the Sichuan earthquake on May 12, 2008. In the background is the tent Mr Li and his family lived in for three months after the quake. [John Sexton/China.org.cn]

Li Chuanfu has the kind of everyman face that makes people stars of television soap operas. The word jovial might have been invented for him. When we arrived at a temporary settlement for earthquake homeless between Mianzhu and Hanwang, he was sitting with friends in a little shop cum café. They pressed him to give us an interview, and he did not need much persuasion. In a community that gave us a warm welcome, his was among the most heartfelt.

Li and around forty thousand other people made homeless by the May 12 earthquake live in a vast settlement of grey-white prefabricated houses stretching down gently sloping fields from a narrow country road. The PVC terraces are separated by dirt roads that churn up in wet weather. Here and there the red roofs are dotted with rows of satellite dishes. There are cars and trucks parked outside some houses; more common are tuk-tuk-style motorcycle taxis that some residents ply around nearby towns.

The temporary houses are adequate in that they provide shelter and warmth – probably too much in summer and too little in winter – but the main problem is that at twenty square meters, they are just too small for many families.

"There's a huge difference between our old house and this one," said Li Chuanfu. "We used to have 200 square meters. Here we are all crammed into a small space."

Li lives with his wife, his daughter-in-law, twin grandsons, and his son when he is home on leave from the army. The family of six is entitled to two twenty square meter rooms. Li says conditions are fairly good. The drains work well and they get clean drinking water from stand-pipes in each block. People live in the houses rent-free, said Li. Water and electricity are also supplied free-of-charge. There are schools in the settlement including an adult education center that provides technical and vocational training. 55 year-old Li was a farmer before the earthquake. Now he makes a living as a pork butcher, but complains that there is nowhere for him to open a business in the settlement.