Family can finally shower at home

Every time Shi Wenliang takes a shower at home, he think back to the days when he had to trudge to the public bathhouse. Keeping yourself clean can be a complicated ritual when you live in a remote village in Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

Before 2011, Shi went with his father to the public bathhouse in town, several kilometers away, two or three times each month.

"It was always a long wait," the 15-year-old recalled. "There were so many people waiting to wash themselves that the bench in the bathhouse was always full and everyone else had to stand or squat to chat. When I got bored, daddy would buy me candy."