China's quake spurs a long march homeward

By Chris Buckley

BEICHUAN, China (Reuters) - They come clutching bags with water and biscuits and coats, faces haggard from travel and fear, and yet determined to climb through earthquake-shattered hills that many are still fleeing.

The May 12 quake that flattened towns and villages in southwestern China has unleashed a torrent of fleeing homeless, but also a counter-flow of migrant workers heading home into the backwoods of Sichuan province to search for families.

Beichuan, one county in Sichuan destroyed by the quake, has seen thousands of people every day rushing from hard-grit jobs in distant provinces, often with little more than the clothes they wear, to march for one or two days to their home villages.

Gui Yi, a building worker now living in the far northwestern region of Xinjiang, tottered through Beichuan's ruins carrying two torn plastic bags holding water, crackers and a jacket.

He was going to search for his aged parents with about 60 yuan ($8.6) left from a six-day trek by bus and train from Xinjiang.

A slight man no more than 5 feet tall, Gui said he was not afraid of the walk through boulders and landslides. But his face, a mix of grimy exhaustion and shock, said otherwise.

"I know it's dangerous but I've walked there before," Gui said before picking his way over a buckled bridge leading to a cracked tunnel that marked his way home.

"Without going in and looking, I'll never feel at peace," he said, his voice cracking with grief for what he might find.