Mianzhu:Turbine maker turns around

The new plant of Dongfang Turbine Co in Bajiao town, Deyang city, features advanced equipment and provides better lives for its employees. HUANG YIMING / CHINA DAILY

The post-quake relocation of Dongfang Turbine Co's base brings improvements and pressures for workers.

Much has changed for technician Li Zhongyu and his coworkers since May 12, 2008, when he saw part of the factory explode in the Wenchuan earthquake and went searching among ruins for his girlfriend in Hanwang town. The 29-yearold Hubei native married her last year. She now lives at their new home in Bajiao township, Sichuan province, caring for their newborn son. Dongfang Turbine Co Ltd relocated to Bajiao, from Hanwang, a company town built around the plant. Workers say the relocation of their destroyed factory and rebuilding of the quake zone has changed their lives. Hanwang lost about 17,000 of its 43,000 residents, mostly migrant workers, as a result of the quake. Many died and others left town because there was no work without the plant.

The 2008 Wenchuan earthquake reduced the plants of Dongfang Turbine Co in Hanwang town, Deyang city, to debris. LI JING / THE PLA DAILY

About 1,400 workers moved to Bajiao.

The "new base", as workers call it, covers 173 hectares in Kaifang district's new science and technology economic zone. It hosts about 60 percent of the enterprise's workers.

It's half as large but twice as professional as the old base, workers say. And the city is larger, which brings new opportunities - and pressures.

But it's a step up for Li and his wife.

"She likes it better here than in Hanwang," Li says. "It's bigger."

Yet Bajiao's advantages blend with drawbacks.

"The air is worse because there are so many factories. And the transportation is less convenient," Li says.

It used to take him a few minutes to get to work, and now it takes 40.

"The location isn't as good, but the equipment is better," Li says.

His colleague Deng Hui agreed.

"We used to work on a hill in a so-so factory. The new plant is very advanced," says the 33-year-old from Sichuan's Shehong county. "We've got new houses and cars. Everything is better here."

Deng came after the old factory was abandoned in 2011. "We just want a place to work, to show our worth and help build society," he says.

He rides his bike to work, since the quake gave him a greater appreciation of health and the environment, he says.