Li Mumiao, 32-year-old Chinese, has fed and sheltered over a hundred Myanmar residents who fled to China after armed clashes broke out on November 20, with most of them elderly and children, according to thepaper.cn.
Li, her husband, and three children live in a one-bedroom house in Manghai, Southwest China's Yunnan province, just a few yards from the official resident camps. Two temporary bamboo shacks shelter dozens of people. The others sleep on the ground of Li's yard, using beddings provided by Li and the government to stay warm at night.
"Heavy gunfire can be seen and heard across the border and we can barely sleep during the night," said Li.
Most of the Myanmar residents brought no belongings with them when they escaped the fighting, and few of them had food. Li provides them food and has made the "soup kitchen" a reality thanks to the donation of local residents.
Pickles, vegetables, and steamed rice in barrels are now part of regular dinner for Li's family and the Myanmar residents.
Li is not rich at all. The family moved to Manghai from a mountainous area three years ago. Li and her husband, who have the additional burden of tuition fees of their three children, make a living by farming and doing small business and live a hand-to-mouth life. "I am not rich, but they are poorer than me. I cannot be indifferent to their suffering," said Li.
One Myanmar resident named Kong Enkong said that they dare not go back to their hometown for fear of the forced recruitment.
Kong and other Myanmar residents all felt grateful to Li's family. "Although some of us are distant relatives of Li, the others are complete strangers to her," said Kong. "We are happy to have a shelter here and far from the battle fire," he added.
A total of 10 persons have been killed and 33 others injured in armed clashes which broke out between the government forces and a combined forces of three ethnic armed groups in Myanmar's Northern Shan state in the weekend.
Thousands of Muse residents have crossed the border to China for safety and have been accommodated in camps.
Chinese Ambassador Hong Liang on Tuesday urged all parties to exercise restraint and to immediately end the armed conflicts near the China-Myanmar border, according to a Xinhua report.
