Renovation program raises living standards in rural areas

More than 1,400 families now have new homes as a result of a policy to rehouse people living in impoverished areas, as Hou Liqiang and Li Yingqing report from Binchuan county, Yunnan province.

Jinhuo Buwei used to dread rainstorms because the water leaked into her house and even washed the soil off the interior cob walls, made from a rough mix of water, mud and straw.

"We couldn't sleep, and we had to cover the bedding with plastic sheets so it wouldn't get soaked. Sometimes, we didn't manage to do it in time," said the 46-year-old from Lijiao village, Binchuan county, in the southwestern province of Yunnan.