The plan is for the old, abandoned Beichuan to be turned into a memorial site and attraction. Tourists will be able to visit a quake museum and walk through the city wreckage.

Old Beichuan is surrounded on all sides by high mountains — beautiful, but lethal in the end.

The new Beichuan will be built on an absolutely flat river plain, 15 miles south. Right now the new site is just a broad, open field stretching away toward the distant mountains.

NPR also has a multimedia presentation, China Earthquake: A Year Of Recovery, here.

An Amnesty International report released this week says that the Chinese government intimidated parents in Sichuan in the aftermath of the quake, reports CNN:

The 52-page report, released Sunday and titled “Justice Denied: Harassment of Sichuan Earthquake Survivors and Activists,” documented instances where parents and relatives said they had been detained for up to 21 days for trying to get answers from officials about their children’s deaths.

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Post tags: 2008 Sichuan earthquake, NPR
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First is  a look at China’s historic ties to oil-exporting Sudan — ties that go back more than a century. Sudanese say their relationship with China is deeper than any oil well. 

The historic background provides some perspective on Sudan’s contemporary relationship with China, which revolves around oil and infrastructure. China does not get involved in domestic politics in its African partner-nations and has not used its diplomatic or investment weight to help resolve the conflict in Darfur, Sudan. The first part is now available on the NPR web site.

Despite its large investments in Africa, China steers clear of moral issues, which is explored in Part 2. In the Democratic Republic of Congo, the Chinese have signed a multibillion-dollar agreement — dubbed the “deal of the century” — to develop the mining sector and build roads and hospitals, in exchange for minerals galore. Though many Westerners express suspicion about the Chinese deal, the Congolese say “tant pis” — pronounced “ton pee” — which means “too bad.” Instead of hemming and hawing on the sidelines about good governance and transparency, China came ready to play by Congo’s rules. Part 3 explores this relationship.

Part 4 looks at Zambia, where China is hungry for copper. The Zambian government is upbeat about Chinese investments and involvement. But there has been anti-Chinese unrest and rioting among Zambian copper workers over low pay, poor working conditions and alleged exploitation.

Lastly, Part 5 explores the other end of the story of how Chinese investment is changing Africa. China has funded huge infrastructure projects all over the continent. But the vanguard of China’s pioneers has been an army of small merchants fanning out throughout Africa, setting up “mom and pop” shops and market stores, selling cheap imports. Senegal, in West Africa, is one of the countries where they’ve settled, notably in one area of the capital, Dakar.

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China is gaining popularity among a new breed of travelers: patients with incurable conditions who are visiting the country to receive experimental stem-cell treatments not offered in the United States.

One company is now claiming a medical breakthrough, advertising that its treatments are restoring vision to blind children. It has ignited a firestorm of controversy in both China and in the U.S. …

Dr. Sean Hu, the 40-year-old chairman of Beike Biotechnology, is a medical doctor-turned-entrepreneur with a doctorate in biochemistry from a Swedish university.

Less than three years ago, he set up Beike. Since then, 3,000 patients — most of them from China — have received Beike’s stem-cell treatments for a wide range of conditions. He says 70 percent have seen improvements, but he admits he can’t explain why.

Listen to the report here.

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Post tags: medical tourism, NPR, stem-cell research
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