After years of struggle, villager and village escape from poverty

Chen Zeshen had been living in a rundown, brick-and-clay house for decades in Dawan village of Jinzhai county, East China's Anhui province.

Around 2003, Chen's only son died of disease, and his daughter-in-law abandoned the poverty-stricken family and left without even a goodbye according to the 71-year-old.

In keeping with an old superstition, Chen changed the direction of the house's front door, hoping the family's misfortune could be reversed.

But in 2007, his wife also passed away. Chen altered the door's direction again, but his struggles continued as he had an annual net income of less than 2,800 yuan ($425).