Sun Bing, a junior middle school student from Hangzhou in Zhejiang Province, known for its West Lake - has never worried about the water supply.
She washes and cleans daily with water from the lake and walks its shores every evening.
Therefore in April she was shocked to learn from the local newspaper that in Yangcha Village, Northwest China's Gansu Province, it had not rained for almost four years.
Yangcha Village is close to the edge of the Loess Plateau, a place defined by the United Nations as "the most unsuitable place for human survival in China".
It is said that even taking a bath is a luxury for villagers there. Some take just three baths in their whole lifetime: when they are born, when they get married, and after they die.
Their only source of water is rainfall.
Starting in the 1980s, villagers built vase-like cellars in the earth to collect and store rainwater.
As the construction of these 30-sq-m water cellars cost at least 500 yuan - much more than a villager's average yearly income, just a few relatively wealthy families can afford the rainwater stores.
Back in Hangzhou, Sun Bing decided to do something to help the drought-plagued village.
She got in touch with the head of the village, Wang Yande, and promised to visit during her summer holiday.
Sun, her parents and grandmother finally reached the track to Yangcha Village on August 12, with 7,000 yuan, three crates of mineral water, books and stationery.
They overcame altitude sickness and carried the heavy goods up to Yangcha Village, arriving at 7 pm the same evening.
Realizing that water was precious they only agreed to wash their hands with a tiny amount of water after Wang said it had rained in June, the first time in four years, and the heaviest downpour in almost 70 years.
The villagers saved enough rainwater to last them a whole year, he said.
On the second day, Sun distributed bottled water, books and stationery among the local children and visited some poor families.
Wang said the donation from Sun would be used to build water cellars for 14 local households. To express his gratitude to Sun and her family, Wang said they would be called "Zhejiang Water Cellars".
On her way home Song had the idea of setting up a blog, called "Hope of Water" to raise awareness of the impoverished area.
To date, Sun's blog has been visited 2,184 times. Sun said she will save her pocket money and continue to support the water project in Yangcha Village.
Questions:
1. Which city is Sun Bing from?
2. Yangcha Village is close to the edge of what?
3. What is the title of Sun Bing's internet blog?
Answers:
1. Hangzhou.
2. Loess Plateau.
3. "Hope of Water".
（英语点津 Linda 编辑）
About the broadcaster:
Marc Checkley is a freelance journalist and media producer from Auckland, New Zealand. Marc has an eclectic career in the media/arts, most recently working as a radio journalist for NewstalkZB, New Zealand’s leading news radio network, as a feature writer for Travel Inc, New Nutrition Business (UK) and contributor for Mana Magazine and the Sunday Star Times. Marc is also a passionate arts educator and is involved in various media/theatre projects in his native New Zealand and Singapore where he is currently based. Marc joins the China Daily with support from the Asia New Zealand Foundation.
