Recently, a video of an 8-year-old girl wandering the streets in Xi’an in the winter wearing slippers has captured the attention and sympathy of many netizens. According to the little girl, she claimed, “My mom passed away from cancer, and my dad doesn’t take care of me.” Netizens have questioned, “What is the local village government doing?”
A mainland Chinese blogger posted a video on November 11, saying that while she was out playing with her son, she saw a very dirty little girl, “wearing slippers in the dead of winter, 8 years old and not attending school, picking up food when hungry.”
In the video, the girl is wearing a green cotton jacket and a pair of pants with holes, barefoot in slippers, with a runny nose due to the cold.
The blogger asked her, “Where is your family?” She replied that her mother passed away from cancer, and her father at home doesn’t care for her.
The blogger expressed that for the past two days, she couldn’t get the girl out of her mind but didn’t know what to do.
The video has sparked widespread attention from netizens online.
Netizens have expressed their sympathy, with comments such as, “This is too pitiful.” “It’s very cold now! Wearing slippers, and the child’s pants are torn at the knees. It’s 2025, how can there still be cases where children are not receiving compulsory education? Where are the guardians? What is the local village government doing? If the child doesn’t study, are they preparing to return this family to poverty?” “It’s very dangerous. There’s a risk of abduction or other unfortunate incidents happening. It feels very unsafe.”
On the 12th, a report by CGTN stated that the Xi’an Weiyang District Civil Affairs Bureau responded, saying that upon initial investigation, the family situation of the little girl is quite unique: there are a total of four children in the family. The girl’s two older brothers were born to the father and his first wife and are currently being taken care of by their grandpa. On the other hand, the little girl and her four-year-old sister were born to the father and his second wife, both of whom have passed away.
The staff member stated that they have been in communication with various departments such as the city’s orphanage and the education bureau to ensure that the little girl can start school as soon as possible and are considering including her family in the minimum living allowance program.
Netizens have commented that there are many more homeless children like this, and action should be taken before public opinion on the internet stirs up enough attention.