Premier Wen Makes Second Trip to Quake-hit Zone

Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao made his second trip to the quake-battered zone on Thursday afternoon to supervise over disaster relief work.

Wen flew to Mianyang, in southwest Sichuan Province, one of the worst hit cities by the magnitude 8 earthquake on May 12.

The focus of relief work has shifted from rescuing lives to rehabilitating quake victims and local society, said the Premier on board of the plane on the way to Sichuan, "It will be a harder and long-term task."

The Ministry of Health has sent about 4,500 medical workers to implement sanitation work in quake-hit regions, Wen said.

At about 4:40 p.m., he oversaw a quake lake in Tangjiashan of Beichuan county on board of a helicopter.

In Sichuan, there are 33 "quake lakes" formed by landslides that blocked rivers. The one in Tangjiashan is one of the three largest.

Those lakes, formed as water was blocked from following river beds by rock and mud slides set off by the earthquakes, were very dangerous as the water level of some quake-lakes has risen, threatening vast areas.

Wen ordered rescue workers to eliminate the danger of these "quake lakes" through engineering means while swiftly evacuating people in danger.

In Beichuan, Wen told quake victims to convert sorrow into strength, saying that "building a new hometown is the best consolation for dead relatives."

According to a preliminary plan, Beichuan, the worst-hit county in the earthquake, will be rebuilt at a new site.

The exact location was yet to be decided, but it was likely to be on the flat land of what is currently neighboring Anxian County, 20 km away, according to an official with the Sichuan Provincial government.

"We will build a new Beichuan," Wen told local officials, adding that the old site could be retained and turned into a quake museum to commemorate the victims.

His previous trip to the area was on May 12, just hours after the major tremor rocked Sichuan at 2:28 p.m.