Buildings are destroyed by the 2008 earthquake in Yingxiu, Sichuan. [Photo by Zhang Zefeng/China Daily]

"I looked at things optimistically. As long as people around me were safe it was easy enough to rebuild my house."

Over the past five years in China more than 66 million people have been pulled from poverty. In line with national goals on alleviating poverty, the local government in Wenchuan has implemented measures specific to poor households and individuals. For example, in 2015 Zhang was offered free plum saplings and technical support to work on his own plum plantation.

In addition to the income he derives from beekeeping and poultry farming, those plum trees are also now bearing fruit, and last year he made a profit of 12,000 yuan from them, he says. He plans to invest more in his plum growing, he says.

Zhang's optimism and resilience made him a household name in Miansi township in Wenchuan. Last year the Aba Tibetan and Qiang autonomous prefecture government in Sichuan honored him with the annual Touching Aba award.

However, it is his grandchildren who remain his greatest motivators.

"As long as they live lives of joy I, too, feel happy. I want them to get into a good university and help others - just as others have done so much to help us."

Flowers grow from a building destroyed by the 2008 earthquake in Yingxiu, the epicenter of the quake. [Photo by Zhang Zefeng/China Daily]