'Travel oath' sparks discussion, empathy online

A video posted on Weibo, a Twitter-like platform, on July 18 showing one girl leading her grandparents in an oath before their departure to Beijing for sightseeing received a great deal of attention.

"Never will I complain about admission tickets being expensive and say you can go in without me; never will I complain the food is expensive and say we can have it at home. Never will I wake people up at 4 or 5 am..." the oath went, in brief.

The influencer Chong Lang Da Ren A Yi, who made the post, said in the video her grandparents have always been frugal in their daily life and cautious about travel spending. After friction emerged during trips they had together, she figured out the oath to enable a pleasant trip for all of them. She added this was a good plan, since the grandparents didn't complain and really enjoyed the trip.

Her video has struck a chord with many netizens. Several said they had the same experience with their parents and grandparents before. Many expressed interest in trying the method with their own family.

A Weibo user named Xiong Mao Ren commented: "The friction actually is caused by conflict in consumption concepts between generations. When I have a trip with my parents, they often complained about the spending, thinking we can stay in a cheaper hotel, and saying we were superfluous in eating. However, most of the time, spending during a trip can enable us to have a good experience. And the time we spending with our family is priceless."

Having experienced hardships and adversity, "to survive" instead of "to enjoy" weighs deep on parents' minds, Ding Xuezhu, a doctor with the mental health center of the Sixth People's Hospital of Hebei Province, told a reporter with People's Daily.

The economy is more developed than before, and the consumption concepts need to keep up with the times. Elderly people should not only just give love to others but also learn to love themselves, said Song Chongsheng, the director of psychiatry at Beijing Huilongguan Hospital. When the elderly find their own happiness, Song added, it brings satisfaction to their descendants as well.