Personal experience prompts farmer to help families of cancer-stricken children

Parents who accompany their sick children to hospitals in Harbin, in Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, are benefiting from the generosity of a man who has set up a communal kitchen, a place they can cook special meals for their sick children.

This kitchen is different from the shared kitchens you find in some cities - which are set up with a profit motive - as it can be used for free, the owner Jia Wenyin, 43, says.

Young children receiving treatment for leukemia need special meals as they are quite vulnerable to infections due to poor resistance, so it is necessary for parents to provide specially cooked food for them.