1 woman, 1 bike, 1 dog: elderly Chinese woman forsakes freedom of life on road to look after paralysed ex-husband who broke her heart 18 years ago
- Almost 20 years after her ex-husband ditched her for another, an elderly Chinese woman has hung up her bicycle clips to return to his side
- To cure the mental anguish and depression the break-up caused, the woman has been cycling around the globe with her trusty dog in a basket
The decision of a 65-year-old Chinese woman to give up her independence to look after her bedridden ex-husband, who divorced her 18 years ago, has triggered a debate on feminism and gender roles on mainland social media.
Li Dongju, from Henan province in central China, suffered from depression after her husband divorced her and quickly remarried. So bad was her situation, that on one occasion, she had to be admitted to a psychiatric hospital.
In a video published on March 4, Li told Jiupai News that it was cycling and life on the open road that cured her.
After buying her first mountain bike in 2013, the former textile factory worker, who lost her job during a series of massive lay-offs in China, found a direction in life.
Over an eight-year period since 2014 Li became an icon of liberty, travelling on her bike in 12 countries across three continents – Asia, Europe and Australia.