Taiwanese internet sensation Grandfather Xia passes away before reuniting with his long-lost family

Old grandfather Xia, made famous by the Internet in Taiwan, has passed away.  

On 16 June, his grand-daughter uploaded a short film, showing his old and devastated wife bidding him farewell with the words, “I will take care of myself, you can rest in peace.”  

Mr Xia and his wife regularly told netizens, “She married me, I make her happy. We are blissful!”

And just recently, old grandfather Xia, who lived in the northeastern part of Taiwan, had successfully reconnected with his long-lost family members and was looking forward to meeting them in person… but he passed away before he could. 

Upon hearing the sad news of Mr Xia’s demise, many netizens left condolences, expressions of dismay, and reluctant acceptance of the event.  

The 94-year-old grandfather showered sweet love on his wife every day. They held hands and had a very close relationship.  

With their sweet daily squabbles, this old couple melted the hearts of many netizens and brought a tear to many an eye. 

“Old grandfather, we love you, you are not allowed to leave!”

For those of you who would love to know the background to this sweet love story, we take you through some key moments in this sweet couple’s life. 

Old grandmother, Chen Cui Er, 80 years old, came from Kinmen.

Old grandfather, Xia Wei, 94 years old, came from the Northeastern part of Taiwan.

They met during times of chaos and war, fell in love, and settled down in Taiwan.  

Old grandfather Xia’s grand-daughter, Xia Dexuan, set up an Instagram account for her grandparents. Every day, she uploaded photos, videos and snippets of her grandparents’ lives.

To date, the Instagram account has amassed 650,000 fans.  

The original intent of this Instagram account was simply to share and spread some positive content online. Little did anyone imagine that this daily sharing would create a tear-jerking reunion between loved ones.   

Reuniting with lost family: Here’s what happened

On Weibo (a common web program used in China and Taiwan), an account was created in order to share images of this sweet couple on Xia Dexuan’s Instagram account in Weibo, for the enjoyment of countless Weibo users. The account was not managed by Xia Dexuan herself, although it was created in her name.

 One day, a Weibo user with the name Xia Bentie sent a message and picture of his own grandfather to this Weibo account.  

Image Credit: news.ifeng.com

The people managing the Weibo account saw the message and photo. They had a feeling that there was something big in the message and photo. Thus they left a message on Xia Dexuan’s Instagram to ask her for some details.  

Little did they expect to uncover a family link and reunite a family after so many decades. 

The fascinating story of Grandfather Xia: 

Old Grandfather Xia Wei’s birth name was Xia Quan Mao. He had an older brother in China, of the name Xia Quan Ao.  Xia Dexuan was the grand-daughter of Xia Wei aka Xia Quan Mao, while Xia Bentie was the grand-son of Xia Quan Ao.

Years ago, when old grandfather Xia moved to Taiwan, he was under the impression that he had no family or relatives in his old hometown of Heilongjiang. As such, he never went back to his hometown to visit.  

Xia Dexuan’s intent, in setting up the Instagram account for her grandparents, was merely to record moments from their lives. Never would she have imagined to get such a big surprise from the Internet, moving three generations to tears! 

Upon learning that he still had family in China, old grandfather Xia and his wife were overjoyed. Xia Dexuan specially took a photo with her grandparents wearing the traditional northeastern cotton hat.

They were all excited to travel back to old grandfather Xia’s hometown to meet up with their long-lost family members. However, given that old grandfather Xia’s health was not in very good condition, his grand-daughter Dexuan opted to travel to Heilongjiang on his behalf.

 Sadly, Xia Bentie shared that his grandfather, Xia Quan Ao, had passed on. As such, the brothers were not able to reunite in person, despite being separated for so many decades.  

Such a magical story that touched the hearts of many netizens.

Despite the current sadness, it has been labelled as the warmest story on Weibo! 

In a personal interview, Dexuan asked her grandfather about his most beautiful moment in life. His answer brought about buckets of tears from viewers.

“Both islands were originally as one family. Kinship can never be broken.” 

Old grandfather Xia, rest in peace.