Ma Chengyin inspects the Gratitude Tricycle.
On September 22, Baoding welcomed six special guests. Three dutiful children pulled their parents in a tricycle to make their dream of visiting Hainan come true, and their guide was Wang Rui, who had taken his elderly mother to Taiwan in 2009.
At around 9 a.m. on the 22nd, guide Wang Rui, Ma Chengyin from Shandong with his octogenarian father, and the couple Xie Shuhua from Xuzhou and her nearly 100-year-old mother arrived in Baoding. They had set off from Beijing and were heading south, passing through Shijiazhuang, Xingtai, Handan, Nanyang, Xinxiang, Zhengzhou, Wuhan, Changsha, and Guangzhou, before finally reaching Hainan. Their mode of transport? Just three “Gratitude Tricycle” vehicles.
Reporters learned that each “Gratitude Tricycle” used by the filial sons weighs over 100 pounds, and with the added weight of the elderly and their luggage, it comes to nearly 300 pounds. These three devoted sons pulled these vehicles and embarked on this thousand-mile journey on foot. It is reported that on slow days they could cover 70–80 li, while on faster days they could walk over 150 li.
Wang Rui told reporters that they had received help from kind-hearted people everywhere along the way, which deeply moved them. This was his second visit to Baoding. On the 21st, Professor Zhang Chuan from Hebei University arranged a lecture for them at the school, and Dr. Chen Songhe from Hebei Medical University also took time out to give the group a health check-up. There was also help from kind-hearted people like Chen Rong, the owner of a home furnishing store. Wang Rui exclaimed, “There are so many warm-hearted people in Baoding!” The group planned to visit the Ranzhuang Underground Tunnel Base that afternoon to experience the revolutionary spirit, which was also the reason for their stop in Baoding.