Thoughtful son-in-law goes the extra mile to make sure illiterate woman in her 60s is safe; Good Samaritan student on same flight offers help
2-MIN READ2-MIN ListenFran Luin BeijingPublished: 6:00pm, 13 Mar 2026More than a million people online have been touched by a Chinese man who posted a huge note on his illiterate mother-in-law’s suitcase to help in case she needed help during her first solo flight.
On February 28, the man from Xian city, northwestern China’s Shaanxi province, posted that his mother-in-law would be flying on the same evening to Dalian, in northeastern China’s Liaoning province.
He said that the woman, who is in her 60s, is illiterate and does not speak Mandarin. The flight also did not provide special services for solo-travelling elderly people, so he was worried about her.
He asked for help from viewers who happened to be on the same flight: “Please give her a hand if you see her and tell her you are Zhao Chen’s friend,” the man said.
Zhao also posted a giant note on the woman’s suitcase, providing her flight details, her special conditions and information on how to help her, plus a thank-you message.
The note said that it was “the first time that my mother-in-law flies alone”.
“You can find the pickup person’s phone number in her pocket. If any emergency happens, please scan the QR code on the red card she wears.”
