Volunteers embark on journey of self-discovery

CHENGDU: Messy hair, flashy chains, trendy T-shirts and low-slung jeans had long defined Zhang Qian as a typical spoiled, only child - a rebel without a cause.

After the quake on May 12, he has found a cause - and the rebel in him changed.

A five-day trip to Yingxiu, one of the worst-hit areas, transformed his life, the 25-year-old said emotionally as he pounded the table in between deep drags of cigarette smoke a week after he returned to Chengdu.