Rebuilding life after mudslide devastation

LANZHOU－Xue Yuying got up early, carried two buckets and walked to Sanyan Valley to fetch spring water. Not far from the valley is the spot where his house once sat, which was swept away in a destructive mudslide 10 years ago.

Locals drink the spring water and use it for cooking, Xue says. The water tastes just as sweet and cool as it used to be when the 63-year-old was little.

A roaring avalanche of mud and debris devastated Zhouqu county in Northwest China's Gansu province on Aug 8, 2010.The raging mudslide dashed down the valley slopes and swallowed up buildings and farmland in Yueyuan village almost overnight.

Xue is a resident of the village. He lost three family members in the disaster, hanging on together with his eldest son, homeless.

"The mudslide ruined everything. There was no house, no family and no hope," Xue says, recalling the first hard days after the disaster.

Being the only survivors of the family, Xue Yuying and his son Xue Xinrong decided to make a living near the village.

With an interest-free government loan of 30,000 yuan ($4,313), the father and son opened a small restaurant in 2011, striving for a better life. Xue Xinrong got married, and had two adorable daughters.

The newcomers to the family delighted Xue Yuying. "My granddaughters mean a lot to me. I have been taking care of them since they were born," he says.

As the family grew bigger, so did their catering business. Xue Xinrong signed a contract to supply a local hotel, and earns nearly 120,000 yuan a year.

Though having started his own family, Xue Xinrong persuaded his father to live with them. "Since the horrible disaster, we cherish and depend on each other more than before," says the son.

Their new apartment is located in Luojiayu community, not far from the former site of Yueyuan village. More than 40 other surviving families of the village also live there.