An assessment in Gansu was important to see what the local villagers were building them selves, with the material (durable waterproof tarp) supplied by IBAS. I was very happy to see that all of the tarp had been given to the villagers and it was mostly being used to cover their primary shelter.

There were instances where the villagers covered their secondary shelter (food storage) with the IBAS tarp as they received it after they had already built their primary shelter. This gave me an opportunity to see what materials they could afford and what techniques they used to build their primary shelters with. However there were also instances of the government tarp being damaged so they would then use IBAS tarp in its place. When IBAS tarp was supplied after they had built their primary shelter, in most cases the villagers were using the coloured tarp (government supplied) and transparent waterproof plastic sheeting (bought them selves at 4RMB/m) as a laminate on either side of the coloured tarp. This produced a waterproof cover albeit not very strong; however I assumed surrounding trees and bamboo plantations diffused the wind adequately to protect the shelters.

Most structures were made using split bamboo much like that of IBAS shelters although using thinner walled species (arrow bamboo) that grows all over the mountain. The shelters built resemble your iconic house; 4 straight walls, a hinged door and a double sloping roof. As I mentioned before with the material that covered the shelter, the same goes for the structures built. They are somewhat feeble and I was not confident with a strong wind these structures would survive however they would survive a large earthquake, due to the “play” (movement) the building technique and material allows.

The structures that used wood as sidewalls instead of material would stand a better chance of staying upright in strong winds. (for images of the bamboo structures and shelters covered with IBAS tarp, please see photo gallery “Gansu shelters”).

Charts and maps of how, how much and where IBAS tarp has been used will be up shortly.