In less than a week, 86-year-old Ling Ruishen had "traveled" around the globe.
There were photos to prove it—just one second, he was bathed in the sunset glow of the Brazilian rainforest; the next, he was surrounded by green fields in the French countryside.
Whether it was the skyscrapers of New York or the coast of Sydney, he made an appearance. During this "around-the-world trip," he also "attended" a Mayday concert in Hong Kong and a Los Angeles Lakers basketball game, and even climbed into the cockpit of a Boeing 737.
In reality, as the elderly man appeared in tens of thousands of photos from all over the world, in real life, he was simply lying quietly on a hospital bed as usual. Terminal cancer left him barely able to walk, and sometimes when he opened his eyes to look out the window beside his bed, there was only a small patch of sky.
"I still haven't lived enough," he once told his children. Although he had always wanted to travel abroad, the sudden illness confined him to the hospital.
But his granddaughter, Ling Yifan, was not about to give up. This post-80s cartoonist, who goes by the pen name "Buddy," used to bring a bit of "romance" to her grandfather—sometimes a big bunch of pink sunflowers, sometimes a tank of goldfish. This time, she wanted to show her grandfather the world.
"At first, I thought it would be great if even a few dozen people helped out," Ling Yifan said. She posted a portrait she drew of her grandfather on Weibo, hoping someone would print it out or display it on a computer screen, take a photo with it in their location, and then "@” her.
In less than an hour, the Weibo post was reposted nearly 10,000 times. Within five days, she received more than 10,000 photos, most from strangers. She selected some and posted them on her own Weibo, expressing her gratitude.
When 22-year-old Zhang Nan saw Ling Yifan’s Weibo post, she was napping in the classroom. The girl, studying alone in Canada, felt that besides taking pictures of Toronto’s beautiful scenery, she should also give some encouragement to "grandpa." She started persuading her classmates, and eventually, seven young people from five countries held up a sign that read "Go Grandpa!" and took a photo.
Meanwhile, "grandpa" was also "taken" to the summit of a snow-capped mountain at an altitude of 5,217 meters by Kou Bo from Chengdu. "During the climb, I could more deeply feel the support of family," he believed, and he was determined to share his most meaningful journey with "grandpa."
The journey even reached as far as Antarctica. "Grandpa" smiled in the images from the southernmost part of the Earth, with pure white icebergs set against the deep blue sea behind him.
Some netizens even cut "grandpa" out from the background of the original drawing and composited it with the photos they took—making it look even more realistic.
When "grandpa" Ling Ruishen first heard about this, he happily told his granddaughter, "I'm already a world celebrity." He gave a slight smile, though for him, with severe mouth ulcers, the smile was painful.
To his family, Ling Ruishen was definitely a "strict head of the household," rarely showing his inner emotions. But as more and more photos were shown one by one, tears began to well up in his eyes. Sometimes he would nod at the photos, and other times he would comment. Seeing the "Red Square," he would "correct" Ling Yifan, saying it was the "Soviet Union" and not "Russia." And the night view of Taichung brought back long-forgotten memories: "An old friend of mine lived there."
Just browsing through the photos had already exhausted him. Before lying down to rest, he slowly raised his hand and made a fist-bumping gesture to express his thanks.
Despite being very weak, "grandpa" Ling Ruishen, as the netizens hoped, was still trying hard to live on.
In the ward, he refused to wear his patient gown and asked his family to bring him a crisp suit and plaid shirt. He still cared about his financial situation and often counted money on the hospital bed. The young nurses called this 1.80-meter-tall grandpa "tall, rich, and handsome." Once, when he suddenly took a turn for the worse, his daughter cried while holding him, and he used all his strength to pat her back and comfort her: "It's okay, I’m still fighting."
Now unable to eat and only maintained by intravenous drips, he missed delicious food immensely and claimed he wanted to "nom nom eat pig’s trotters." Sometimes his family would give him food to hold in his mouth, but he would just shake his head and helplessly spit it out.
As if knowing "grandpa’s" wish, host Li Ai let "grandpa" enjoy some Sichuan snacks. In one set of photos, there were the "pig’s trotters" he always talked about, with milky-white soup topped with green scallions.
Netizen Kiki even prepared a rich breakfast for "grandpa." In front of "grandpa" were fresh red apples, Western-style sandwiches, and traditional tomato and egg soup. Three young men even took "grandpa" to eat a steaming hot pot.
Everyone was trying to make "grandpa" feel happy. For example, after a fresh rain, letting him "stroll" through the lush green parks of Melbourne, or on a "birdsong-filled" morning, letting him "smell" the flowers of Malaysia. Someone even had their pet cats and dogs "accompany" him, hoping to make him laugh. Many called him "our grandpa," and in Ling Yifan’s view, people were also expressing their own feelings or making up for regrets with their own loved ones.
"My grandpa passed away in 1994. He was the most important person in my life!" one netizen wrote. Many netizens talked about their families while taking and uploading photos. Zhang Nan, who cheered for "grandpa," even exclaimed, "I want to fly home right now to hug and kiss my grandma."
Although her grandpa suddenly had thousands of "grandchildren," Ling Yifan didn’t feel jealous at all. To her, grandpa was unique. She liked to touch his "bald head," "it’s smooth and fun." When describing her grandpa, she would use the word "lively." In her memory, her grandpa was in great health, and even in his 80s, he could ride a small motorcycle around Beijing, "felt like he could even climb trees." She remembered that her grandpa back then was a "tech nerd," with electronic components all over the house. He could handmake a baby crib for her and get a homemade little motor running, "he could do anything."
However, she gradually realized that her grandpa was getting older. This year during the Spring Festival, the whole family gathered together. But she saw him sitting alone, resting his head on the sofa and staring blankly. "Maybe it was his last Spring Festival," Ling Yifan said. Her grandpa didn’t know about his illness, but to get him to cooperate with treatment, they had to tell him, "you’re very sick." Until one day, her grandpa grabbed her hand on the hospital bed and said, "Yifan, draw a picture of me."
Ling Yifan put down all her comic drafts, even though her grandpa often taught her that "work comes first." She spent a whole day drawing that portrait of her grandpa based on his photo—the one that would later "travel the world"—and had him wear his favorite shirt in the drawing.
"That’s me," the elderly man said when he saw the portrait. He wasn’t very excited, but there was a hint of sadness in his eyes. Ling Yifan began to wonder, if it were herself at the end of life, what wishes would she have? She felt it would definitely be to go to more places. "I didn’t ask him," she said. As a granddaughter, she just wanted to make her grandpa happy.
She didn’t expect that "the number of photos far exceeded expectations and control. Even if I replied to one person every half minute, replying non-stop for four hours a day, it would take several months to finish."
One netizen accompanied "grandpa" to every temple in Myanmar. Another netizen took "grandpa" on a 130-kilometer bike ride, even though he didn’t know that cycling was also "grandpa’s" hobby when he was young.
Netizen Shang Shengxuan met Yasuo Fukuda at the Japanese Embassy in China. After sharing the story of this "grandpa of the world," Shang Shengxuan relayed greetings from Japan’s former prime minister on Weibo: "He told you to cheer up!"
In fact, the "grandpa" was full of energy. He also "visited" several classrooms of students preparing for the gaokao, "toured" the prototype of Hogwarts School of Witchcraft and Wizardry from *Harry Potter*, and even "served" as a judge on a talent show with singer Chen Yufan.
"So many people care about me," said Ling Rui Shen. As Ling Yifan looked through the photos, she kept asking if her grandpa needed to rest, but the elderly man always replied, "I'm not tired." Wearing his glasses and squinting slightly, he carefully examined each photo, his lips faintly trembling as if reading much from them, until he grew too weak and dozed off. When he woke up, he repeatedly murmured, "I must thank everyone properly."
In the eyes of Ling Yifan’s mother, Ling Xiaoying, although this was just a virtual trip around the world, "the children’s hearts are genuine." She had previously thought that only children were somewhat selfish, but the 10,000 photos sent by strangers made her feel that "because they have received their parents’ most selfless love, there is a seed of kindness buried in their hearts."
Speaking of her father, Ling Xiaoying is full of pride. As a senior electronics engineer, "our grandpa" participated in National Day celebrations multiple times. His team was responsible for the sound system across Tiananmen Square, including the grand ceremony for the 10th anniversary of the founding of the People’s Republic of China. He was a strict father who would "give hand slaps" as discipline, yet would also stay pressed against the window watching his daughter’s back as she left home. He would also have serious talks with each of his grandchildren, teaching them to "be good people and follow the right path."
Ling Rui Shen, who even proclaimed at age 80, "I want to buy a car," can now only occasionally manage to get up and walk a little, usually having to stop by the bathroom. He can’t go anywhere anymore—even going back home has become a luxury. Most of the time, he can only lie in bed, dozing off amid the white walls. Occasionally when children bring flowers, he shows his humor—holding the flowers, shaking hands with them, and pretending he’s accepting an award.
On the evening of May 11, netizen Guo Lingfeng saw Ling Yifan’s Weibo post. This young man, who had learned two weeks earlier that his grandmother had been diagnosed with lung cancer, said he could deeply relate. Together with friends, he brought "grandpa" to a basketball game in Los Angeles. He liked Ling Yifan’s "idea" and felt that "today’s youth are not lacking in compassion, just a good way to express it."
As for Ling Yifan now, she hopes all of this will pass like a breeze, and afterward, "everyone can live normally and think normally." She doesn’t care much about the so-called "social impact," only about whether her grandpa is happy. In her view, she is merely a bridge between her grandpa and the netizens. Meanwhile, many other netizens believe that "grandpa" is a bridge connecting the shared emotions in their hearts.
Undoubtedly, this bridge has taken Ling Rui Shen to countless sights. On his granddaughter’s computer screen, he can see himself traveling the world. "I’m very happy," he says. The successive visits from journalists even more thrilled the elderly man, with tears often welling up in his eyes. However, after mustering the energy to face various cameras, "our grandpa" soon came down with a high fever.