Caring Liuzhou woman shines as role model for all ages

While they say God helps those who help themselves, Zhang Xiu-ping's philosophy is simpler.

"I can only depend on myself," she says.

Widowed in 2000, Zhang, 80, has taken care of her mentally disabled daughter Lu Cuilan, 54, all her life, and her paralyzed neighbor Wei Guihua, 82, since 1996. She was recently named a model citizen of the city Liuzhou, in the Guangxi Zhuang autonomous region.