The kindness of strangers: I was hopelessly ill in China – then hotel staff offered to take my elderly father sightseeing

Inja News جولای 12, 2026 3 minutes read

The food poisoning hit like a tsunami. I remember being out at a dumpling restaurant, grabbing a heap of napkins and just vomiting directly into them. I’ve never been sick like that in my life.

I was travelling in Xi’an, China, with my father, who was then aged 88 or 89. I really should have been in hospital but I didn’t feel I could leave my dear dad on his own. Instead I retreated to my hotel room, where I spent the night projectile vomiting. A horrible, embarrassing experience.

I dragged myself to the reception the next morning to apologise for the mess and ask if someone could clean the room. An older woman who spoke no English came to my room and swiftly took charge – stripping the bed, putting on clean sheets, magicking away the splatter in the bathroom and even helping to wipe me down. Between cleaning the room, she would pat me on the shoulder and wordlessly reassure me. I tried to tip her when she was done but she refused my money and kept coming back every couple of hours to check on me.

The cleaner must have told reception about the state I was in because a younger lady from the front desk later knocked on my door to ask if she could help. Could she, perhaps, take my father out somewhere while I rested?

I answered that we had been planning to visit the Terracotta Army. She told me that her shift was about to end and that she would happily take him. I remember the last thing she did before they left was delicately straighten my father’s collar. I knew then that they would be just fine.

I’d given my father plenty of money to see them both through the day but when he returned he told me the receptionist hadn’t let him pay for anything. She had taken him sightseeing on her day off, on her own meagre wage. I tried several times later to pay her back but she utterly refused to accept any money. She cared for him as if he was her own grandfather.

The respect shown to my father when I was sick and helpless was beyond amazing, and is something I’ll remember for the rest of my life. My father and I have been lucky enough to travel the world but we both agreed we’ve never experienced kindness like we did in China.