East or west, home's best, as the saying goes. But if the home is well-built, that's even better. Twelve poor families in Fanyang village, South China's Hainan province, have been given the chance to start a better life in newly-renovated homes.

Efforts are being made to lift Fanyang village out of poverty by next year and renovating dilapidated housing in the area is a key part of those efforts. Forty homes have been earmarked for renovation this year, with work on 34 already started.

In 2016, 44 rundown homes were renovated.

Villager Luo Haijie's in front of his old and new homes. The 45-year-old man has a family of four. He previously lived with his parents and brother in a poor house of just 60-square-meters. With a government subsidy of 45,000 yuan ($6,531), work began on renovating a bigger 120-square-meter home for his family in June 2016. Once the interior is fitted out the family expects to move in in the second half of the year. [Photo/Xinhua]