Chinese nonagenarian sells house to support hometown school

Students visit Xu Nairong on Children's Day, June 1, 2022. (Photo/China News Service)

(ECNS) -- On June 1, or Children’s Day, students from a primary school in Sunyuan Town, Sihong County, Jiangsu Province, gave flowers to 96-year-old Xu Nairong at a local nursing home to thank her for her support of the school.

Xu is from Sihong County and sold her house in Shanghai to support her hometown’s primary education.

Xu came to Shanghai as a teenager. In the past few decades, she has worked as a nanny and even picked up garbage for a living. She served at a waste recycling company until retirement. She lost her husband and has no children, so she spent all her savings on a house in Shanghai. 

She finally sold the house and moved into a nursing home in Sihong in order to donate her money to the primary school. With her money and the local government’s financial support, a building covering an area of 1,200 square meters was built at the primary school. It was named after her.

Xu continues her frugal life so she can invest her pension in the school, such as buying new uniforms for students.

“I want to visit the school and try my best to do something more for the education of my hometown,” she said.