In a Beijing district battered by Saturday's downpour, soldiers with mud on their pants and shovels on their shoulders arrived at a primary school in Beicheying village on Wednesday.

On the campus of the school in Fangshan district, 24 makeshift tents house more than 20 families. Many of the tent-dwellers' houses are on the street where the floodwaters rose up to 3 meters on Saturday night, severely damaging their homes.

Gu Haihua, 26, whose house was destroyed, said the soldiers helped her clean up the mud and damaged cars in front of her house.