13 simple, heartwarming photos from the Chinese internet
The year 2017, on the whole, has been sort of crummy.ย But even so, displays of kindness and generosity have not been hard to find.
The year is ending, so let’s momentarily stow away our cynicism. Here are 13 photos that went viral this past year in China — straightforward, low-res photos that simply show ordinary people being compassionate and human.
It’s a reminder that the best mercies are the small, everyday type.
In October, 46-year-old Liu Ni ๅๅฆฎ, a single mother in Anhui Province, was seen kneeling for five hours outside a hospital. She was praying for her 16-year-old daughter, Xiao Meng ๅฐๆขฆ, who was undergoing surgery to treat polio.
โMy daughter is in surgery and I am very afraid,” Liu said. “I donโt have any education and am not able to help her. This is the only way. I pray for the success of the surgery.โ
Luckily, Xiao Mengโs surgery was successful.
On June 14 in Chengdu, Sichuan Province, a young father pulled his shirt over his young son to shield him from the rain.ย This lovely moment was captured by a passerby and posted online, eliciting comments from online users on a father’s love.
3.ย Parents’ concern
After a one-week vacation in October, Xiao Cheng ๅฐๆ was ready to leave his parentsโ house in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province, to return to his workplace in Hangzhou. But when he opened his car trunk, he was stunned by what he saw: vegetables, eggs, handmade noodles, oil — all from his parents. A reminder that while goods are perishable, love doesn’t need to be.
4.ย He may forget the whole world, but not you.
A 68-year-old father named Pan Puquan ๆฝๆฎๅ จ missed his sons so much that he took the train by himself from Chongqing to Beijing to see them.ย Alas, this old man suffers fromย intermittent senile dementia, so his search went on for 12 days. This is the moment he found his sons, Pan Zhaohu ๆฝ็ ง่ and Pan Zhaoxiang ๆฝ็ ง็ฅฅ. (The picture in the link above is pretty heartwarming as well, as one of the sons wipes away tears.)
5.ย A filial son
On a Shanghai subway train, a father sleeps in the arms of his son after a long day. Many online users seeing this said they felt a “pang of emotion.”
6.ย When I was little, you carried me. Now, let me carry you.
In October, 54-year-old Wang Kewu ๆฑชๅ ๆญฆ was seen carrying his sick mother to see a doctor in Yunnan Province. He said he has been doing this for seven years, and felt it was his responsibility to take good care of her.
7.ย A good husband
Li Ya ๆ้ and her husband, Kuang Yongbo ๅตๆฐธๆณข, have been married for 10 years. In August, they celebrated their wedding anniversary in Jiuzhaigou, Sichuan Province. It was what happened next that proved their love!
On August 8, a 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the area. As a wall was about to collapse, Kuang threw his body around Li to protect her. Li was okay, but her husband suffered a three-inch gash on his head.
Here’s a short story posted by Weibo user @ๆฐธ่ฟ็็ฆ็ ธ. “I wanted to take a picture of my grandpa, but he said, ‘Wait.’ He took his cane and walked over to his room and pulled out a picture of his deceased wife, and said, ‘Take a photo of me with your grandmother.'”
9. Real love, part 1
An elderly couple sits by the side of the road, the woman appearing to do the nails of her companion. Not much is known about this picture, but then again, maybe it speaks for itself.
10. Real love, part 2
In Changsha, Hunan Province, an elderly man presents a birthday cake for his wife, who holds it a long time near her chest. (Next to them is a collection box and a bowl, as these two are street beggars.)
11.ย Temporary shelter
A sanitation worker couldnโt find a place to take shelter from the rain. A driver drove by and saw him in the open, so he stopped his car and invited the sanitation worker to take shelter.
12.ย An abandoned baby
On December 20, a police officer in Guizhou Province found an abandoned baby, only 20 days old, in a park. The temperature was 2 degrees Celsius below freezing. The officer took off his clothing to warm the infant.
13.ย Big gratitude for a small kindness
On July 4, a female sanitation worker was seen offering her food, a boiled egg, to a blind beggar in Zhengzhou, Henan Province. She even helped remove the eggshell and put the egg in his mouth. The beggar kneeled to express his gratitude.
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