Lonely Chinese old man puts himself up for adoption

TIANJIN, CHINA - JANUARY 19: Han Zicheng, 85, sits in bed to take off his pants, revealing the wool pants inside that he usually wears at home. (Photo by Yan Cong for The Washington Post via Getty Images) (2018 The Washington Post)

An elderly Chinese man was lonely but didn’t want to go to a home — so he put himself up for adoption.

“Lonely old man in his 80s. Strong-bodied. Can shop, cook and take care of himself. No chronic illness. I retired from a scientific research institute in Tianjin, with a monthly pension of 6,000 RMB ($946) a month,” Han Zicheng wrote on a flyer last December, according to the Washington Post.

“I won’t go to a nursing home. My hope is that a kind-hearted person or family will adopt me, nourish me through old age and bury my body when I’m dead.”

Han, a widow whose sons were estranged, had been telling neighbors for years that he was lonely and afraid of dying alone without much success.

Traditionally, elderly Chinese people have been cared for by their kids and grandchildren, but thanks to the country’s one-child policy and the changing attitudes of younger people, tens of millions of oldsters like Han are now struggling without support, according to the paper.

Read more at the New York Post.