About 2 km south of Laiza, 600 refugees are being housed in the No 3 refugee camp, which was originally a vegetable market. The huge building, also covered with iron plates, has been divided into small cells. Seven women slept in a cell measuring less than 4 sq m. Their worldly goods — clothing, cooking pots and baskets — were either lying on the ground or hanging up on the bamboo walls. Temperatures plummeted at night, forcing an elderly man to set fire to a number of small pieces of wood to keep warm.

"It's a mess here, but at least it provides a place to stay," said La Gon, in his 30s.

Residents in Nabang, Yunnan province, watch an air raid by the Myanmar air force.

Children continued their studies in the refugee camps. When they arrived, no schools had been built, so residents huddled together to leave enough room for classes. In most classes, Kachin-style bags served as desks, except for the few lucky students who had access to a real desk. Most of the kids had to sit on bamboo beds, but some latecomers simply stood near the door. Despite the conditions, their interest in the lessons the teacher had written on the blackboard was undiminished.

The conflict has not lessened the popularity of Chinese classes in the border city: The Kachin people share ethnicity with China's Jingpo ethnic group and have regular trading contact with them. The only school providing Chinese classes has been damaged and the kids now have to study at the refugee camps. Fu Xing, a 25-year-old volunteer from Shandong province who has been teaching Chinese at the Je Yang Hka refugee camp for 12 months, said the bombs don't scare the kids and they have retained their desire to learn.

Pah Hein Ohn, the Kachin deputy minister of health, said the conflict has left many people homeless and forced them into the refugee camps. "Our refugee camps have received about 60,000 people so far. As the war continues, the number will probably rapidly increase to 70,000," he said in an exclusive interview with China Daily. He pledged that more houses and toilet facilities will be built for the refugees.