With boards from dismantled temporary houses, Lin Xingcong builds the walls for his new two-storey home. His wife, Li Yunxiang, whom he married in January, helps.

"The wood is all my own to save money," says Lin, 48, who lives in the forestry village of Gangou, Anxian County, one of the areas worst hit by last year's May 12 earthquake in Sichuan Province.

In Lin's village, residents build wooden houses if they cannot afford bricks and concrete, which must be transported into the mountainous area.

His new home comprises a two-story wood structure of living rooms on the eastern side of his small yard and the kitchen and dining room on the west. Between stands the tent in which the couple live, with a bed, an old wardrobe and an old desk pulled from the rubble of their former homes.

Lin's former wife was crushed by a rock fall. She was on her way back from market when the quake struck. Li's former husband was working at a hydroelectric station, under construction at the time. Li went to the site several times, but his body was never retrieved from the debris.

"My former husband left me with a 66-year-old mother-in-law and 15-year-old son. I felt quite helpless at the time," says, Li, 37.

One day in July last year, each household in the temporary community where Li lived was given a tank of gas for cooking. Li called Lin to help her with the tank and he "immediately agreed without any hesitation".

The pair grew close. On January 25, the last day of the Chinese lunar year, the county civil affairs bureau staff went to their home to issue a marriage certificate, sparing them the arduous journey to the county seat.

They promised each other that they would care for the five elderly relatives -- Li's former mother-in-law, Li's parents, and Lin's former parents-in-law -- three children -- Lin's 21-year-old daughter Lin Ling and 19-year-old son Lin Shunping, and Qiu Chao, 15, Li's son. They also agreed they could place photos of their former spouses on the bedside table after they moved into the new house.

"The children get on well with each other as if they are real brothers and sisters," Li says.

They have two home appliances pulled from the debris: a refrigerator and a color TV with a dented top, but both still work.

"The new house cost a lot of money, so we will not buy a new TV for the time being," Li says.

Qiu Chao studies mechanics at a vocational school while Lin's son is studying forestry at the Sichuan Agricultural University. They graduated from high school last July.

But Qiu Chao does not call Lin "father", and Lin's son and daughter do not call Li "mother". Instead, Qiu calls Lin "Linbai" (uncle Lin) and Lin's children call Li "Liniang" (aunt Li).

"We are on good terms with the children," she says, adding the black shirt she wears was bought by Lin Ling, who works in a restaurant in Chengdu, the provincial capital.

The tuition fees of the two sons amount to almost 10,000 yuan (US$1,466) a year, a heavy burden for the family, who rely on a government subsidy of 200 yuan per mu (1 hectare equals 15 mu) of his 30-mu farmland every year for a farmland-to-forest project. Lin's post as the village head of militia recruitment earns about 1,000 yuan a year.

"No matter how difficult life is, we will support our children's education," says Li. "All our hope for the future lies with the children."

The quake also destroyed a third of Lin's 2-hectare forest land. The trees would have been ready for harvesting in a few years, he says.

The township government recently gave the family 60 kilograms of rice.

They have almost used up their government house reconstruction grant of 38,000 yuan. Lin is planning to apply for a loan of up to 40,000 yuan to finish off their home.

"It is difficult to get such a loan as our situation is not good," Lin says. "The most urgent task is to complete the house for our new family."

Lin plans to plant medicinal herbs on his forest land and raise pigs at home to earn some income after the house is completed.

Tuesday marks the first anniversary of the earthquake, which left 68,712 people dead and another 17,921 missing.

Lin says they will remember their lost spouses on Tuesday.

"A prosperous and happy life with our own efforts is the best memorial," he says.

(Xinhua News Agency May 11, 2009)