Thousands of villagers in Hunan are still living in the shadow of one of the worst pollution scandals on the mainland. And while the authorities have preferred to ignore their pleas for help, they may now have the proof they need - in their blood.
As villagers along the Liuyang River struggle to figure out how to make a living after toxic metals leaking from a nearby chemicals plant over six years destroyed their fertile farmland, the death toll - the unofficial one, that is - is growing.
People are dying of pollution-related diseases two years after the Xianghe Chemical factory was shut down. In Shuangqiao and neighbouring Puhua and Gankou, which lie about 70 kilometres north of the provincial capital Changsha , villagers say as many as 20 people have been killed by metal poisoning, so far.
But the Liuyang government stopped counting past the first two victims. The death toll has stayed at two since mass protests erupted over the death of five villagers in 2009.
Blood tests carried out this month by Beijing's Chaoyang Hospital showed three out of four villagers were suffering from high levels of cadmium, an extremely toxic metal which is used to make batteries.
Yet in a free check-up organised by the local authority last year, out of 3,600 villagers within a 1.2-kilometre radius of the plant, the number of people deemed to have excessive amount of cadmium was just 321.
According to medical experts, chronic exposure to cadmium may damage the kidney and liver. It can cause cancer and failure of the nervous system and lungs.