Reporting from Beijing
When Li Yaqin was 16, she ate what her family could scavenge: dandelion leaves, alfalfa, rice sprouts, corn husks ground and pressed into cakes.
As her college-age granddaughter quietly captured her on digital camera, the 73-year-old told of watching her father starve to death.
“He was sleeping on the bed and couldn’t move because he was too hungry,” said Li, her jet-black bangs framing an expression taut with lingering despair. “He called me to pull him up, but when I tried to pull him up, he just rolled around in bed and couldn’t get up. And then he stopped moving.”