“Street light auntie” Why a Chinese shopkeeper has kept her lights on for 13 years

Srinagar, Aug 04: In the heart of Changsha’s old town in China’s Hunan province, a humble grocery shop glows with quiet compassion. For 13 years, 60-year-old Sun Meihua has kept her shop’s lights on every night—not for profit, but to offer a sense of safety to women walking home alone in the dark.

As reported by South China Morning post, Sun opened the shop in 2012. In her first month, a few young women told her that the light outside made them feel secure after finishing work late. From that moment, she never turned it off. Local people now call her the “street light auntie”.

Her kindness goes far beyond the light. She changed her shop’s closing time to 2 am and sometimes walks home with girls who are afraid. She also brought the landline phone from her house to the shop. Many elderly people who don’t use mobiles and children who can’t carry phones use it to call their families, for free.

According to the South China Morning Post, Sun and her husband have lived in the neighborhood for more than two decades. Having once been on the receiving end of the community’s kindness, Sun says her actions now are simply a way of giving back.