Kang Li, 64, is a retired music teacher in Wuhan, Hubei province who has been adopting Yi ethnic minority orphans since 2009.

She created a private music school with her husband in 1995 and at its height there were as many as 400 students. After the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, Kang took the opportunity to help children dropping out of school in the Yi Autonomous Prefecture in Sichuan province.

Kang initially planned to adopt only about a dozen, but changed her mind when discovering there were more children needing care. Since then, 96 Yi orphans from the prefecture have been taken in by Kang and her school.

Kang and her husband's savings have long gone to support the school, but she is determined to change the lives of the children.

Kang Li collects 25 newly-arrived Yi orphans at Wuhan railway station, Dec 18, 2014. [Photo/CFP]