appConfigEntityId

bodyType

customContents

entityId

entityUuid

isVideo

articlePageQuery

article

articleSchemaContent

content

hooksArticlePageAdvertisementConfigArticle

appConfig

filter

json

liveArticle

Laurie Chen

An 11-year-old boy has won hearts in China after photos of him helping his cleaner mother sweep the streets so she could go home early were circulated on social media.
The schoolboy’s efforts first gained attention when a passer-by posted the photos of him on Weibo, China’s Twitter, back in March.
Armed with a dustpan and broom, Long Guotao was pictured sweeping a main street in Kaili, in southern Guizhou province, while his mother Wu Azhen rested nearby.

Since then, the photos have continued to be a hit online, with many social media users praising the boy for his filial piety.
Six-year-old Chinese girl swaps places with mum, spends four years as her carer
On Thursday, Guotao’s proud mother told media “he is truly a great boy”.
“Every day I have to go out at 5am to clean the streets, and by the time I finish dumping all the rubbish it is already very dark,” Wu told Shanghai-based website Thepaper.cn.
“My younger son saw that it was exhausting for me, so he would regularly come out to help.”

But the 46-year-old mother said she wanted her son to spend more time studying.
“His grades haven’t been good recently. I don’t let him come and help me now, so that he can spend more time studying at home,” she was quoted as saying.
Chinese policeman brings sick wife to station every day so he can keep an eye on her
Wu said her son started helping her in March. They had planned to meet in an area where they could buy him a new schoolbag, but instead Guotao turned up where his mother was cleaning, took the broom off her and started sweeping the street.
“He would often come and help me. In the past, he would always deliver my meals at the weekends and help me clean a bit before he left,” Wu told the news website.
“Sometimes when he finished sweeping, he would also help me pick up water bottles and bits of paper from the ground. The work is really too hard for someone so young.”
Opinion: why some parents don’t deserve filial piety, for all its importance in Chinese culture
But she said it had also provided a valuable lesson for her son, and Guotao now helped to tidy up at home and always put his rubbish in the bin.


China’s marriage numbers plunge to Covid-era low as population woes deepen

Has China just ended the end of history?

China fireworks factory blast sharpens focus on workplace safety

China’s May Day travel surges but spending chases ‘value’ in budget-conscious pivot

China society

Chinese schoolboy, 11, wins hearts by helping his mum sweep the streets

Long Guotao started helping his mother, Wu Azhen, clean the streets in March. Photo: Weibo

Eleven-year-old Long Guotao is cleaning the street so his mother can go home early. Photo: weibo

News

China

People & Culture

Photos of Long Guotao working with a dustpan and broom while his mother rested nearby were posted online by a passer-by
Wu Azhen says ‘he is truly a great boy’ – but she wants him to spend more time studying


Photos of Long Guotao working with a dustpan and broom while his mother rested nearby were posted online by a passer-by.
