Nursing homes are being built in China's Tibetan-populated regions to provide accommodation and care for the elderly, offering comfort to many who previously lived alone in deprivation.

Lozang is one of those who has benefited. Sitting on his doorstep in the sun, he leisurely spins a golden prayer wheel. Two elderly Tibetan women sit beside him, drinking yak-butter tea.

Before moving to the Central Rural Nursing Home in Xiahe county, in Northwest China's Gansu province, a year ago, Lozang lived alone, at times sleeping in a cowshed.