 |
On May the 12th, 2008 a powerful earthquake devastated the area around Wenchuan County, Sichuan Province. With a magnitude of 8,0 the Wenchuan earthquake was one of the worst earthquakes suffered in the last years, sowing a wave of death of desolation to a wide area, its effects were felt even in Beijing, thousands of kilometers away.
Among this entire devastation only one small village seemed unaffected by the wave of destruction. It was Taoping Ancient Qiang Village, one of the few places where the Qiang traditional architecture is still preserved.
This is not the fist powerful earthquake Taoping Village suffered. "Records reveal that the ancient Qiang village has faced three major earthquakes since the beginning of the 20th century; the magnitude 7.5 Diexi earthquake in 1933, the magnitude 7.2 Songpan-Pingwu earthquake in 1976, and the magnitude 8.0 Wenchuan earthquake on May the 12th, 2008. In the Wenchuan earthquake, while Taoping survived, all the other villages in the area were reduced to rubble."
"So, how exactly did the ancient village survive the great earthquake? And can the architects of today learn anything from the secrets of the ancient Qiang builders?"
Secret of Ancient Village Surviving Earthquake, a China Central TV documentary film tries to answer these questions. An on site research provides the clues of the Taoping Village resistance to earthquakes: from the choosing of the placement by their Qiang nationality builders in the mountainside, to the special building materials located in the area, the especially rich in nitrates local loess used for construction, and of course, an intricate architectonic tradition preserved by the Qiang people along the centuries.
Now this documentary film is available in three parts in Youtube.
Secret of Ancient Village Surviving Earthquake 1/3
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |
 |