Chinese Man with Home and Savings Chooses to Sleep Outside Supermarket for 10 Years—His Heartbreaking Reason Revealed
A 78-year-old Chinese man who slept outside a Shanghai supermarket for a decade despite owning a home chose the bustling atmosphere over loneliness following his 2000 divorce, until a caregiver befriended him and they discovered legal compl
Despite owning a home and having savings, 78-year-old Qiang Ming from China has chosen to live in the back hallway of a supermarket in Shanghai's Yangpu district for over a decade, citing deeply emotional reasons.
According to reports, he owns a 20-square-meter room—an old house left to him by his mother. However, after divorcing his wife in 2000, he became afraid of living alone in the quiet, empty home and chose to live near people instead. The bustling atmosphere of the supermarket made him feel more at ease and comforted.
He has never begged or caused problems for anyone. He carries substantial cash and owns various IT devices. His bed consists of just a single mat. Every day he wakes at 4:30 a.m. to pack up his belongings so as not to interfere with the store's operating hours. When the supermarket closes at night, he curls up in the same spot.
This lifestyle took a toll on his appearance—his hair became unkempt and his beard long, making him look pitiful. However, his life began to change in 2021 when Huang Lanjie, a domestic worker from Shandong province working in Shanghai, discovered him by chance in the supermarket. Taking pity on him, she spoke with him and began bringing him food and caring for him regularly.
Desiring someone to care for him in his final years, he proposed giving the house and his pension card to her so she would look after him until the end. She happily agreed to become his "adopted daughter."
However, when the two went to formalize their caretaking agreement in late 2024, they encountered a problem. Officials discovered that according to divorce papers from years earlier, the house belonged to his ex-wife, not to him, despite his claims of an "informal divorce."
Ultimately, both the primary court and appeals court ruled that the house belonged to his son. His son confirmed that his parents were indeed divorced and had previously offered to renovate the house for his father to return to, but his father refused. The son waived all other inheritance rights solely to prevent his father from giving the house to someone else, fearing his father might be deceived or taken advantage of.
Currently, Qiang Ming has moved in with Huang Lanjie in a rented room, though the relationship between father and son remains strained.
