1,099 apartments rebuilt in urban area with 17,901 more still to come

Sitting in his wheelchair at the entrance to his new, two-bedroom house, Yang Kexiang wants to shake hands with every visitor.

"He is pleased to see people who visit his new home although he can't speak," said Yang Zhonglu, a 70-year-old resident of the village of Long- xing in Longmen township, Lushan county, Sichuan province, who takes care of 57-year-old Yang Kexiang.