As hope fades for the missing, shelter has become a top concern for earthquake survivors in the southwestern Sichuan Province, especially as the warm, rainy season approaches and the insect population surges.

Dire need

Yang Caiying, a 78-year-old grandmother from Hanwang Township, Mianzhu City, has been living in a deserted van with 20 other people from five families for more than 10 days.

"It is too crowded," she said. The only relative with her was a grandson.

The van, parked on a flat area about the size of two football fields amid ruins, was damaged and abandoned in the earthquake, with several panes shattered.

Although some kind-hearted people gave Yang a thick coat to sleep under, the silver-haired woman, who, like most others, escaped with only the clothes she wore, still shivered when it rained. At night, she has nowhere to lie, as the van is too crowded.

"If only we had a tent," she said bitterly.

Mianzhu was one of the worst-hit regions in the deadly May 12 quake, the most devastating since 1949. More than 11,000 people died just in the immediate area, and some 400,000 to 500,000 are living outside.

According to Jiang Guohua, Party secretary of the city, they need at least 10,000 tents for urban residents and 40,000 for those in rural areas. Currently, they just have a few thousand.

Mianzhu's situation isn't unique.

In Hongbai Township, Shifang City, where the quake claimed about 4,000 lives, 95 percent of the survivors are in makeshift shelters of water-proof cloth.

Liao Mojie, a teacher with the central school in the town, wished for a large tent so that students could resume class.

About 400 of the school's 732 students were killed in the disaster. But for some of the survivors, thinking of the future, the reality is that the entrance examination for senior middle school is near. "We can't wait to resume class," he said.

"We need tents and mobile houses. More than 5 million of the quake survivors need proper shelter," said Li Chengyun, vice governor of Sichuan, on Friday.

Home in factory

President Hu Jintao visited two tent manufacturers in east China's Zhejiang Province on Thursday, urging them to produce as many as possible to meet needs of the quake survivors.

Many outdoor travel products and supplies companies have been enlisted to manufacture tents.

Volunteer Wang Hongli and her husband have moved from their home in the central province of Henan to a tent factory in the provincial capital of Zhengzhou, more than 50 kilometers away.

Like more than 60 other "new dwellers" there, she started at 7:00 AM and spent 16 hours a day making tents for survivors.

"I saw from the newspapers that they need tents, and we want to do something," she said while sewing. Their 4-year-old son played with other children in a vacant room.

Since last Tuesday, the Yuxing canvas production factory has delivered 3,000 tents to the quake-hit regions. It is supposed to send another 8,000 to Mianyang within a month.

So far, 400,000 tents have been shipped to the quake-hit areas, but that's far from enough, said Foreign Ministry spokesman Qin Gang on Thursday.

Foreign countries had promised to donate 151,900 tents, of which 11,500 tents had been delivered.

At least 3.3 million tents are needed, Qin said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 24, 2008)