The first time we entered Daytop's drug treatment and rehabilitation center, we saw a world completely different from the one we had imagined. It was clean, neat and orderly, with a relaxed atmosphere, and from every corner came a strong air of culture. It was hard to imagine this was a place entirely managed by drug addicts.

Workers told us that Daytop actually isn't just a therapeutic community model, it's even more an educational model. The normal atmosphere of the campus is one where residents not only completely detoxify, but also study a completely new style of living and attitude toward life, as well as mould new values. It's only in this way that, when addicts leave Daytop, they can become entirely new people with the strength to resist drugs. It's a unique system, and focusing on changing human nature to psychologically treat drug addiction is the biggest difference between Daytop and other drug treatment centers.

Today is the first day at Daytop for Li Li, a 25-year-old from Sichuan Province. In addition to undergoing methadone treatment for drug withdrawal, the functional work that is part of her psychological treatment also starts today. During work time talking is not allowed, so for two straight hours Li Li can only silently wipe the tables and clean the ashtrays - at Daytop, as soon as an ashtray has more than three cigarette butts it has to be cleaned. It's only by starting with the tiniest details that a person can change their lifestyle.

Li Li's boyfriend Dong Ning, who came to Daytop with her, is also in the cleaning group. Today his task is to change the plastic bags in all the trash baskets. Before coming to Daytop the 32-year-old Dong Ning, who is from a well-to-do family, had never done housework. He was the boss of a hot pot restaurant in Chongqing; now his work is too trivial to be mentioned and his every act is subject to the supervision of the older community members.

Unlike other treatment centers, Daytop has put in place a family-style hierarchy. Drug users come here of their own free will, but while here they are called family members or residents and, in keeping with the usual practice, Li Li and Dong Ning will have to start from the very lowest position, the cleaning group. If they have good attitudes, each month they will raise one level. On the other hand they can also be lowered a level. Through this system, idle residents with sagging spirits can master the skills they need for work and life, as well as developing positive, competitive attitudes.

Like most young people to be tainted by substance abuse, Li Li and Dong Ning first tried drugs because they couldn't resist their friends' temptations. Dong Ning was a drug user for seven years, Li Li for five years. They met each other through heroin, and because they couldn't bear the pain of addiction they began together down the road to recovery. Like other drug treatment programs, Daytop provides methadone substitution treatment - methadone is a less toxic, less addictive narcotic. Every day residents take a smaller does of the drug; as a rule, it takes between five and ten days to completely clear a resident's system of toxins. Li Li and Dong Ning are taking their first methadone doses today. Because their systems are still full of drugs, their bodies and minds are unstable, but workers tell us that after a week, when the drugs are completely cleared from their systems, the pair will face the most painful challenge associated with quitting drugs - withdrawal.

At night, in a bar in Kunming, we found Dong Ning's parents. When it comes to quitting drugs, they have an almost deeper understanding than their son. They are most worried about the withdrawal symptoms he will be facing in a week's time - they are clear that every other time he has tried to quit drugs, it was at this point that he failed. Because of their worries that something unexpected could happen, they have decided to remain in Kunming.

To get a better understanding of Daytop, on the morning of the second day we headed to the organization's rehabilitation farm in Chenggong, 15 kilometers from Kunming. There we found Yunnan Daytop's founder, Yang Maobin, directing construction of the rehabilitation village. We had not imagined that before becoming involved with Daytop, Yang, who has spent his professional life in drug treatment work, was a pessimist who both abhorred drug addicts and despaired over ever improving their situation.

Yang was sent for training at the American Daytop Village by the Yunnan Province Institute for Drug Addiction in 1997. While undergoing half a year's experience in life at Daytop, he was able to see with his own eyes one drug user after another successfully quit drugs and re-enter society. Upon returning to China, Yang, along with several young people of similar goals, collected the funds to establish the country's first Daytop Center. Four years later, Yunnan Daytop has helped more than 200 users quit drugs. Even more commendable, the center has established a system to allow rehabilitative patients in the center for more than one year to remain free of charge, as a means of helping a greater number of impoverished drug users and encouraging them to complete their treatment. Yang said that the fee system currently in effect depends on previously collected treatment fees and financial support from international drug treatment organizations.

In Chenggong we met Chen Jinming, a 52-year-old jeweler who had left Daytop 10 days earlier. He wasn¡¯t feeling well, and he had rushed over specially to ask for Yang's help. On the road back to Kunming, Mr. Chen related his story.

In the days before he started using drugs, Chen was one of the most successful jewelers in Kunming. He had a beautiful wife and a lovely son and daughter, he was well-known as a died-in-the-wool sports fan and he had been living the good life for over 10 years. He lost everything because of drugs. Chen and his wife began using heroin supplied by a friend in 1992, to combat the pain caused by a car accident. They quickly sunk into the abyss of drug addiction. After leaving Daytop, Chen planned to shelve his old jewelry business and start again anew, because the few stocks that were not consumed by his years of drug using are not sufficient to support a life of dignity for his family and because he wants to support his 14-year-old son's studies at a football school. After undergoing a severe test at Daytop, Chen is once again facing the challenge of everyday life.

So-called "lifesaving" refers to the process of accepting criticism from other TC members with regard to mistakes made in everyday life or during the previous day's work. Lili has been called out because her participation in small group activities has not been sufficiently serious. During today's morning meeting, Lili has been "saved" seven times and Dong Ning five times, all over matters they considered too small to be worth mentioning. Even though they've only been at Daytop for three days, they have already unconsciously entered a world of rules and regulations. Every day at Daytop is filled with meetings, lectures and small group activities. Their lives have never been so intense, ordered and reflective.

Today Dong Ning and Li Li are participating in a special lecture to address their relationship. They are informed that while at Daytop, they will not engage in a romantic relationship, but will maintain proper distance as brother and sister, just like all the other residents, because when they have not fully recovered, too intense a relationship can serve as a downward force and so-called love is likely to become a catalyst for relapse.

Today is Sunday, and according to Daytop rules, residents who have completed a full month of treatment and who show signs of improvement enjoy special privileges to leave the center. However, today Yun Zhen, a worker who has just completed her medical treatment, carelessly left the center for three hours without permission and received serious criticism from on-duty doctor Wu Tai Kun when she returned. Based on experience, Dr. Wu suspects that Yun used drugs while she was away. An examination confirms that Yun is not carrying drugs, but Dr. Wu knows from experience that the deepest craving of any person who has just undergone detox is for more drugs. Yun almost certainly interacted with drugs while outside the center. While waiting for the results of a urine test, she is required to face herself in the mirror.

Daytop's rules are strictly enforced, because unrestrained souls need boundaries. If Yun did use drugs, tomorrow she will have to leave the center. Her mistake was not accidental; many family members have started back down the wrong road after being unable to handle the symptoms of drug withdrawal. After three days, Dong Ning and Li Li want to stop taking methadone - will they be able to make it through withdrawal? In the blink of an eye their moods are unstable, and after dinner they'll be busy with an older family member's birthday. Meanwhile the results of the urine test confirm that Yun did use drugs and will have to leave Daytop. However, the door is always open, and if Yun is willing, after she has truly repented she can return to the community.

Today, after having just completed his medical treatment and still physically and mentally unstable, resident Da Shu wants to leave Daytop. He has had a disagreement with his family over the telephone. Encouragement from Dr. Wu and other residents has failed to persuade him to stay. In addition, and against everyone's expectations, Dong Ning and Li Li have also just finished their methadone treatments and have decided to return home. In fact, they had decided before they even arrived in Kunming to leave Daytop after completing their medical detox. There are no assurances that they will not relapse after returning home. Actually, the pair are very clear about what the significance of leaving Daytop could be for themselves and their loved ones. In the end, Dong Ning and Li Li only stayed at Daytop for eight days. While they were able to completely physically detox with the help of methadone, people who have successfully quite drugs and remained clean consider psychological recovery to be far more important than physical recovery, and more arduous. Choosing to leave now, all their efforts and success will be for nothing and before them will be the great possibility of falling back into the pit of drug abuse...