Millions of users on social media in China were shocked by the story of a 74-year-old man, who spent the last 36 years of his life regularly regulating traffic on the road of his hometown after the accident claimed the lives of his wife, sister, and four children. His suffering after their death led to local residents calling him a 'good citizen' from the Kunming region.
Initially, many observed how he voluntarily regulated traffic near the medical center Yanyan, after which his actions were noticed by highway police, who allowed him to continue. The story of Zhan became viral on social media with 4 million views after the story was published when his sister died in an accident in 1990.
Six years later, another accident took the life of his wife and four children. Zhan shared that he couldn't stay in his devastated home, which had remained in such a condition for three decades because he couldn't get over his loss. He decided to become a volunteer traffic controller.
Every day, he took the bus at around 6 in the morning to the medical center to help regulate traffic during peak hours. One online observer noted that Zhan told her he started helping regulate traffic near the medical center because he had undergone a heart operation for varicose veins.
He also developed a habit of saving, so his friends could talk to him about their well-being every 10 days, and he often tried to live on leftovers of rice and fast food, not allowing himself to eat more than one meal a month. Some acknowledged that he wasn't always right, but the police did not detain him, continuing to follow him. He was 'disqualified in 1996,' but he continued to do everything possible to help others move forward.