Beichuan, one of the counties in Sichuan province most devastated¹ by the May 12 earthquake, has formulated² an ambitious 19.7 billion yuan ($2.89 billion) tourism restoration plan, local officials said.

A lynchpin of the plan is transforming the province into an internationally renowned³ destination for travelers to learn about the Qiang and Dayu ethnic⁴ minorities' cultures within three to five years.

It will also reinvent its former county seat into a national earthquake museum, Zhang Gu, head of the Sichuan provincial⁵ tourism bureau, said yesterday.

The museum will feature a quake-relief training center, a quake-escape training center, a wall memorializing those who died in the quake and a monument dedicated⁶ to those who assisted local quake relief, according to the plan.

The plan also designates the new county seat as the site for restoring Qiang culture.

Beichuan, which is traversed by the Jianjiang River, consists of an old county seat in the southwest and a new county seat in the northeast. Of the 70,000 who died in the quake, more than 10,000 were from Beichuan.

The quake razed⁷ 80 percent of the buildings in the old county seat and 60 percent in the new one.

Beichuan is the country's only Qiang autonomous⁸ county. It was home to about 300,000 Qiang people prior to the quake, but about 10 percent of them died in the disaster.

The ethnic group is known for dwelling⁹ in stone towers that resemble military outposts and for worshiping the goat - revered¹⁰ as the god of food and clothing.

Beichuan is best known as the birthplace of Dayu, the legendary¹¹ founder¹² of the Xia Dynasty (c.21st century-16th century BC), who is venerated¹³ for controlling rampant¹⁴ floods. Beichuan built the first Dayu Memorial Hall in 1991 for the site of many Dayu ruins.
Questions:

1. How much will Beichuan spend on its tourism restoration plan?

2. What is the name of the minority group that inhabits the Beichuan autonomous region?

Answers:

1. 19.7 billion yuan ($2.89 billion).

2.  The Qiang.