Rural land policies tested in China´s quake zone

"The policy is basically saying that I give up some of my rural housing land to investors who in return will build a new home for me," said Wang.

So he contacted Zhang, who agreed to invest 500,000 yuan (about 75,000 U.S. dollars) right away to build two two-storey villas on Wang's 232 square meters of land.

Wang moved into his new house with his wife, daughter and uncle in October. His house has a floor area of 132 square meters, with 242 square meters of building area. The house cost Zhang 280,000 yuan.

The rest of Wang's land, or 100 square meters, was given to Zhang's new country guesthouse which has 170 square meters of building area. Zhang plans to receive tourists to Mt. Qingcheng.

But the legal footing behind the policy is more complicated than Wang's initial understanding.

The biggest problem for reconstruction in Dujiangyan is funding, says Luo Zhaopeng, director of the city's Urban and Rural Planning Department.

The homes of about 130,000 rural families were destroyed or damaged in the earthquake in Dujiangyan. About one third of these families need to rebuild and the rest need reinforcement. "Housing reconstruction will cost more than 10 billion yuan," says Luo.