Tian Rui (left) and some of the seniors he visits (right) – credit, Tian Rui, via socials
It’s estimated that over 110 million Chinese live and work abroad, which for the family members they leave behind can be heart-wrenching and difficult, above all for the elderly.
But thanks to a generous soul born to the mountain paths of Hubei Province, these severed family ties are being reconnected through social media and delivery services.
Tian Rui is 39, and used to be a courier among the mountains of rural Yichang Province. His years of delivering parcels through the various hamlets endowed him with close personal connections to many residents whose children had moved down to the big cities or to lands further afield to seek work.
Last year, South China Morning Post in Hong Kong reported, Tian decided that he would offer a new service in the area as sort of a middleman between these often elderly locals and their estranged offspring.
So far he’s made over 200 trips to houses across the county on behalf of the sons and daughters of residents there, sometimes to bring groceries or medications, birthday cakes, and sometimes just to check in and have tea.
“What they really want is to know their children are thinking of them and to have someone to talk to,” Tian shared with Jiupai News, adding that his most distant client lives in Bolivia.
Tian doesn’t charge for short trips, but asks for a reimbursement for fuel costs for longer ones.
Before visiting someone, he confirms the person’s address and name, what it is they’re likely to need, and then records a video of the whole thing, before chopping it up and sending it to the person’s relative.
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In one case last December, Tian visited an elderly man and spent several hours with him before sending recordings of their time together to his family. These would be the last sight they had of their relative, as he died just 4 months after the visit.
Tian often witnesses the extraordinary longevity of rural Chinese, for example, a 100-year-old woman whom he visited on behalf of her grandchildren is seen in the video he produced as being spry and capable, demanding he stay for dinner before regaling him accounts of all 16 of her grandchildren’s birthdays.
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The most common case is that the seniors he visits are lonely and vulnerable to social isolation, with many asking him when he will come back next.
With stories like this often going viral on Mainland social media platforms, Tian has been praised as a kind of “family bridge.”
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