The villagers are hoping through tears that the Chinese Year of the Monkey will bring good luck and better therapy for the village.

Wenlou village in Shangcai County made worldwide headlines in recent years for its high incidence of AIDS, a result of illegal blood donations.

Like elsewhere in China, Wenlou's villagers are buying sweets and fireworks from local markets. Housewives are preparing steamed buns, dumplings and other delicacies as the Chinese lunar New Year sets in, but their grief over the dead has not faded, and their wounds have not healed.

Cheng Xuezhong, 75, said he dares not enter his living room. "I cannot stand seeing the pictures of my son, daughter and daughter-in-law," he wept. "They all died of AIDS, after selling blood to illegal dealers."

Cheng's only company is his 8-year-old granddaughter. "We have enough food and clothing. My granddaughter goes to school free of charge," he said. "I have only one wish: Scientists work out an effective therapy to cure the disease once and for all."

The village clinic has discharged most inpatients so that they can celebrate the traditional holiday with their family.

"We'll go from door to door to deliver pills and give injections to patients," said a doctor.

Their treatment is free of charge, as the central and provincial governments have allocated at least US$2 million to help control the disease.

Luo Yurong, a peasant farmer in Houyang village, another AIDS-hit village in Shangcai County, has bought fish and chicken for a huge New Year's dinner for her family.

Luo and her husband, Zhai Zhendong, were both infected after selling blood years ago, and their 5-year-old daughter was born with AIDS.

"I felt the world had fallen apart when I learned the entire family was infected," said Luo, who survived a recent relapse.

Like other AIDS victims in the village, the couple got 50 yuan (US$6) in cash and a bag of flour from the local government as a gift for the new year.

"I have hope again. I have to live up to the love and care of the government and make a better living in the new year," said Luo.

Most villagers said discrimination is a deep wound in their hearts that is hard to heal.

Seventy-five-year-old Cheng Xuezhong cannot hold back tears as he thinks of his grandson, his daughter's only son, who died of AIDS last year.

"We've learned to take things easy these days, as the government has provided us with necessities and free medical service, but we feel lonely and isolated because no one wants to visit us for fear of being infected. What is really hard is that we are not welcome anywhere outside the village," said Cheng Siguo, an AIDS patient who heads a non-governmental AIDS prevention body in Wenlou Village, which is widely referred to as "AIDS Village."

The county government of Shangcai has set up six care centers that accommodate 76 orphans and 26 senior citizens whose family members have died of AIDS.

These homelike organizations are equipped with TVs and gymnastic facilities. On festive occasions, they receive donations from loving people at home and abroad.

"I hope I'll be admitted to a high school in the new year, so that I can go to college in the future," said Nie Juan, a 15-year-old schoolgirl who lost her parents two years ago and is living at a care center with her 13-year-old brother.

According to the Ministry of Health, China now has 840,000 HIV-positive people and 80,000 AIDS patients. Some estimates warn that the country's HIV/AIDS-infected population could grow to 10 million to 20 million by 2010.

(eastday.com January 21, 2004)