Dingzhou , China ( CNN ) Bian Xiuzhi carefully pulls back the clear plastic from her tattered photo album . She wants to show me her favorite photograph of her son . It 's from a few years ago . It shows Bian Liangjing standing proudly in front of a temple gate . `` This is the best one because he looks so handsome , '' she laughs as tears fall on to the album . Bian was on his way back from Singapore after working on a construction site to earn money to pay for his dentist 's license . His boss decided it was cheaper to fly through Malaysia . He boarded the Beijing-bound Malaysian Airlines Flight 370 flight in Kuala Lumpur on March 8 last year when it disappeared barely an hour into its journey . No trace has ever been found despite an extensive search . But his mother is convinced he 's coming back . `` If it is one year , if it is two years or three , I am looking forward to his return . I know he is still alive , '' she says . I first met family members of those who were on the airliner that night as they stood in shock at the arrivals hall of Beijing airport . I saw them every day for a month as they grappled with confusion and mixed messages from Malaysia Airlines and the Malaysian government . I was there when many received text messages saying `` none of those on board survived . '' Many had to be wheeled out on gurneys . Some lashed out at the cameras . The news cycle moved on but the families are still here . They are still in pain . And all the family members I speak to say their loved ones are alive . They never speak in the past tense , they cling onto each theory that is circulated and they refuse to sign any documents to start financial settlements . `` I think psychologically it is understandable , they choose to believe that their loved ones are still missing , so they can still have hope for them to return , '' says May Lam , a psychiatrist at The University of Hong Kong . She says the families need constant support from social workers and the government and they need to be helped to gradually accept their loss . But many say they are treated like an inconvenience . Families complain of harassment by local communist party officials , several have been detained by Chinese police for holding meetings and some say they have been barred from speaking to the international media . Both the Chinese and Malaysian governments maintain they are doing everything they can to help . Meanwhile , Bian Liangjing 's family , like all the others I have met , is stuck in a vortex of grief . His brother shows me to the room where they would sleep as young boys and the corner where they kept their toys . Bian Liangwei says they were best friends and that his older brother looked after him . `` When he was here , everything was OK with our family , now everything is up to me . I hope he is somewhere alive . I just know he wants to come home soon to us , '' he says through his tears .
Chinese mother of son on missing plane still believes he will come home . Many families say their loved ones are still alive . Psychologist : It 's understandable they cling on to this hope .