In a cramped but neat room in Zhouqu, northwest China's Gansu Province, Yang Huili, 23, was busy cooking dinner for her family.

The Spring Festival, or Chinese lunar New Year, which fell on Thursday, is an occasion for reunions of family members and relatives in China. This year's Spring Festival, however, was the loneliest one for Yang and her 18-year-old brother, because a deadly mudslide swept away eight of their family members last year.

Zhouqu, a densely populated county with 50,000 people, was devastated when an avalanche of mud roared down the slopes of a mountain on Aug.8, 2010 following days of heavy rain. The disaster killed more than 1,471 people, while 294 more remain missing.

Like many other survivors, Yang and her brother were orphaned. They had to move to a makeshift dwelling since the mudslide washed away their two-story house.

Yang was working as an intern in a foreign trade company in Xi'an, Shaanxi Province, last August. She chatted with her mother on the phone several hours before the disaster.

"We just talked for a while because I had to work. I never thought that would be the last time for me to talk with her," Yang said.

At midnight Yang learned of the mudslide so she rang her parents, but could not get through.

Having returned to Zhouqu hurriedly, she walked 14 hours with her brother, a high school student in a neighboring county, to reach their razed home village after the mudslide forced the closure of highways.

"The first month after the disaster was the toughest. We looked for the bodies of our parents and other relatives in the ruins during the day and slept on a classroom floor at night. We were extremely exhausted," she said. Despite efforts, Yang failed to find her father's body, which became a sore point with her.

Yang and her brother did find some pictures and their parents' clothes amid the debris. But they didn't dare to look at those photos or keep the clothes. "We felt heart broken when seeing them, so my brother and I held a memorial ceremony for my parents by burning the photos and clothes," Yang said.

The unhappy experience has made Yang a self-reliant young woman. "We cannot change the things that already happened. We must stay strong and look ahead," she said, while placing a steaming dish on the dinner table. Soon the little room was filled with appetizing smells.

However, just six months ago she didn't even know the ABC's of cooking. "We used to be taken care of by my parents. Now I have to learn to look after my brother and myself," Yang said.

When asked about which university her younger brother wants to attend, she said the Fourth Military Medical University.

"My mom wished I could be admitted to this university, but I failed. My brother hopes he can realize my mom's wish," Yang said, adding "I will try to earn more money to support him."

In Zhouqu, where one in ten people perished during the massive mudslides, residents like Yang are trying to stay strong despite the loss of their loved ones, just as a new year resolution by a local resident was written: "Let sunshine fill our hearts. We'll look for the silver lining through our bright eyes."