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‘Give this chubby driver a good review’: daughter’s letter for ride-hailing driver father goes viral in China and sparks business boom

  • The daughter was diagnosed with a brain disorder that has put a financial strain on the family
  • She wrote the letter to boost business by improving her father’s score to get more ride requests

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This letter asking for positive ride-hailing reviews from a driver’s daughter went viral in China. Photo: SCMP composite

An emotional letter “begging” for good reviews from passengers written by a nine-year-old Chinese girl for her father, a ride-hailing driver, touched the hearts of tens of thousands beyond the inside of the car.

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The letter revealed that the family is under immense financial pressure because the girl, Hanhan, has organic encephalopathy, affecting the brain’s function.
In the letter, Hanhan said she fell into a coma following a series of seizures one day in September 2021. She was later diagnosed with the disease, and her dad, Chen Zaixing, a single parent, quit his job as a bus driver to care for her.

He spent weeks travelling with Hanhan between Yichang, where they live, and Wuhan, a major metropolitan area, trying to find the best doctors. Both cities are in central China’s Hubei province.

The young girl was diagnosed with a brain disorder that has created expensive medical expenses. Photo: Weibo
The young girl was diagnosed with a brain disorder that has created expensive medical expenses. Photo: Weibo

Hanhan eventually recovered, but, according to Chen, the total medical bills amounted to around 300,000 yuan (US$46,800), nearly all of which was borrowed from friends and relatives. Hanhan also needs to take long-term medications to manage her condition.

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“I then started working as a Didi ride-hailing driver to pay back the debt and earn money to cover her ongoing medical expenses while caring for her,” Chen told China News.

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