Villagers relish life in new houses

URUMQI－At the end of a hot summer day, Ruzamamet Matkerim, a villager in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, likes to turn on the shower and wash away a day's fatigue with hot water before going to bed.

Matkerim's new house of more than 100 square meters in Inilik village in southern Xinjiang's Hotan prefecture is equipped with modern electric appliances such as a TV, washing machine and gas stove. His elderly mother has gotten used to storing food items such as mutton, eggs and carrots in the refrigerator to keep them fresh.

However, things were quite different a decade ago when a local household could only afford a mud hut or a house made of tamarisk and earth with humble furniture.