[Photo by Zhang Yue/China Daily]

Liu and his wife were worried about my eyes as he noticed my discomfort.

"When we have more money, and conditions get better, we will have better heating so that you won't suffer like that," he said with guilt.

Fresh start for ancient village

Liu's priority at the moment is leading the village's tourism group to build the village into a better tourism destination, including building better accommodation facilities for the travelers.

Yet when we returned to the ancient town of Lijiang, and lived in a newly refurbished inn in the crowded town, I missed Boduoluo village.

For me, though painful and hard, it was the only way that I could learn about real rural China where ethnic people live: the hard and simple conditions they have been living in for generations, the strength they have nurtured on this land, and the genuine love and honesty when offering help, all for nothing in return.