China widow runs late hero husband’s eatery with local support, shares memories with patrons
Memory of brave Good Samaritan who plunged into river without a thought for his own safety to save children lives on in top-ranked restaurant
The wife of a hotpot restaurant owner from northern China who died saving children has taken over running the business with the support of diners from across the country.
Luan Liuwei, originally from Taian in Shandong province, moved to Beijing for work where he met his wife, Xue Qiaoyan. They had two daughters.
In 2017, the couple opened a 200-square-metre lamb spine hotpot restaurant in Beijing, called Liangjian Rongtian Old Beijing Yangxiezi Hotpot.
Last August, while on holiday in Hebei province, also in northern China, with his daughters, Luan heard cries for help from a riverbank.
Without a second thought, he jumped in and, with help from bystanders, saved three drowning children.
However, when he returned to save another man, Luan was overcome with exhaustion and drowned.
He was posthumously recognised as a martyr by the Shandong government and his family received compensation and memorial funds.