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China mum, inspired by son’s heroic death, has handcrafted shoe pads for soldiers for 20 years

A Chinese mother has handcrafted more than 1,000 pairs of shoe pads for new army recruits in memory of her soldier son who died rescuing…

By Samantha Johnson / March 29, 2026

A Chinese mother has handcrafted more than 1,000 pairs of shoe pads for new army recruits in memory of her soldier son who died rescuing his comrade two decades ago.

Zhang Xinghui, from southwestern China’s Chongqing municipality, is affectionately nicknamed “shoe pad mum”.

In 2005, her son, 19-year-old Gu Nu, died while patrolling a mountain in Tibet and rescuing his teammate from a landslide.

Zhang Xinghui hard at work on a shoe pad. She says as long as she can use a needle she will continue her mission. Photo: mp.weixin.qq.com
Zhang Xinghui hard at work on a shoe pad. She says as long as she can use a needle she will continue her mission. Photo: mp.weixin.qq.com

Gu became a frontier guard in 2003 and was promoted as his squad’s deputy leader.

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When Zhang learned the news, she had hand-sewn 20 pairs of shoe pads and was preparing to visit her son for the first time after he joined the army.

When devastated, Zhang saw her son’s grave in Tibet, she met other soldiers from Gu’s squad who lined up to call her mum.

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Zhang saw the narrow mountain roads her son and his comrades walked every day on their patrol missions and learned the hardship they had been through.

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