'Family Messenger' Brings the Warmth of Home to Elderly Deep in Mountains

For many elderly people living in the mountains of Changyang Tujia Autonomous County in Yichang, Hubei Province, visits from their children who work far away can be few and far between.

But a local shopkeeper named Tian Rui has found a way to help bridge that distance.

Since 2025, the 39-year-old has been working as a "family messenger," traveling deep into the mountains to deliver groceries, medicine, cakes and, most importantly, the love and greetings of people who cannot regularly visit their elderly parents.

Tian has made more than 200 trips into the mountains, according to Jiupai News. His longest round trip was about 160 kilometers.

A native of Ziqiu Town, Tian has spent most of his life in the area. After working outside his hometown, he returned and opened a small supermarket in 2009. He later spent more than a decade working in rural express delivery, which gave him an intimate knowledge of the area's steep roads and scattered villages.

He said the idea came from witnessing the growing distance between elderly parents and their children working away from home.

"When I was doing deliveries, I often saw elderly people sending pork trotters, cured meat and ribs to their children working outside," Tian said. "At the same time, young people would message me, saying they were too far away or too busy with work to come home and were worried about their elderly parents."

So he decided to become the middleman.

People can ask him to buy medicine, milk powder, rice, flour or birthday cakes and deliver them to their parents. For short trips, he charges nothing; for longer journeys, he generally asks only for actual fuel costs.

He also spends time talking with the elderly and records videos of the visits for their children. The videos are posted on his Douyin account, "Ruihe," which has about 11,000 followers and has garnered more than 124,000 likes.

One of Tian's clients lives in Bolivia, about 17,000 kilometers from home. Because returning to China is costly, she asked Tian to visit her parents on her behalf.

For many elderly people, however, the gifts are less important than the visit itself.

"They don't really lack daily necessities," Tian said. "What they really want is to know that their children are thinking about them and to have someone sit down and talk with them."

One woman in her 80s has been visited by Tian four or five times. Every time he leaves, she asks when he will come again.

On another occasion, Tian recorded a visit to an elderly couple on behalf of their son. The father died several months later, and the video became the family's last complete recording of him.

The work, however, is not always easy. Tian recalled that during a period of heavy rain last year, he encountered areas threatened by landslides and mudslides. On one trip, worsening weather forced him to take a detour of more than 20 kilometers on the way home.

Despite the risks, Tian said the work has given him a strong sense of purpose. He also encouraged more people to join him.

"I don't mind people doing the same thing. I actually hope more people will," Tian said. "Changyang and neighboring counties have huge mountainous areas, and I can't reach every village. If more people join in, elderly people in the mountains can receive more warmth."