At 69, he explores China with his paralyzed wife in a camper: “I won’t let her spend her last years in hospital”

The story of Liu Peijin, a 69-year-old former soldier from Weifang (Shandong province, China), and his wife is a life lesson that overturns conventions on illness and old age. After 18 years spent in the army often away from his wife, whom he met in elementary school, Liu Peijin looked to retirement as the perfect opportunity to explore China together. In 2010, however, serious complications due to diabetes resulted in the woman’s partial paralysis, depriving her of all sensation on the left side of her body.

Faced with repeated hospitalizations and inexorable physical decline, the couple made a radical decision: to reject the idea of ​​spending their final years in a hospital bed. In 2014, overcoming the initial resistance of their daughter who was worried about her mother’s clinical condition, they left in a normal car towards Jiangsu and Zhejiang. Noticing that life in the open air regenerated his wife’s spirit and health, the former soldier made a qualitative leap by purchasing a camper van equipped with two beds, air conditioning, sink, kitchenette and dining table.

Medical management and the miracle of rehabilitation on the road

In this non-stop itinerary, Liu Peijin self-ironyly assumed the simultaneous role of driver, cook, doctor and caregiver. The vehicle is kept constantly supplied with medicines and nursing supplies. Every day the man is responsible for administering medications, giving foot baths essential for diabetes and leading rehabilitation exercises.

Thanks to this meticulous daily attention, the woman not only avoided muscle and joint atrophy even while moving in a wheelchair, but she preserved good motor coordination and the ability to communicate, despite only slight worsening in swallowing solid food. The man declared that the experience on the road made him a hundred times more lively than the years spent within the hospital walls.

31 regions explored and the solidarity of travellers

In over a decade of travel, the couple has completed visits to 31 out of 33 provincial-level regions, sometimes facing continuous trips lasting three months. On their journey there was no shortage of moments of difficulty transformed into manifestations of profound human solidarity. In Fujian, when the vehicle lost control on a steep road, local villagers immediately rushed to help. On another occasion, in Hubei province, staff at a scenic site physically lifted the woman with her entire wheelchair to get her into the tourist vehicle.

Another significant incident dates back to 2017, when the owner of a beauty salon in Fujian refused to get paid after hearing their story. Liu Peijin cherished the memory of that gesture until last March, when he returned in person to thank her. In April 2026, during a second visit to Xinjiang, a 23-year-old tourist surnamed Cheng filmed the man while he was patiently feeding his wife. The video, distributed online, quickly became viral on social media, moving millions of users with the authenticity of a love that was beyond rhetoric. Currently back home after having almost completed their tour of the nation, the two are already planning a new expedition towards lesser-known Chinese destinations, calculating every risk with clarity in order to continue to live fully.