Jing plays with a child at a children's welfare house in Changchun, to which she donated 10,000 yuan. (Photo provided to China Daily)
Shop the second business Jiang Naijun has started from scratch since retiring in 1987
Jiang Naijun, a 98-year-old supermarket operator in Changchun, capital of Jilin province, visited the local children's welfare house on May 8 to donate 10,000 yuan ($1,570).
Since opening the 97 Supermarket last year, she has donated about half the small business' profit to the public.
"I gave it the name 97 because I realized my dream at the age of 97," she said. "It was really significant. Half of the profit will be used for daily expenses and the rest will be sent to those in need."
The supermarket is the second business she has started since retiring from a cotton mill in 1987, when she was given the opportunity to leave the job to one of her children.
"I still remember that my salary was 18 yuan a month at that time, which was barely enough for daily life," she said. "None of them was willing to take the job, and I didn't want to force them."
To maintain the family, they needed to find another way to make a living.
After trying some small businesses with her three children, Jiang noticed that demand for copper logos was rising rapidly but there were few competent manufacturers.
In the early 1990s, she decided to open a small workshop to produce copper logos.
"It was really hard at that time," she said. "We had only some basic tools, such as a hammer, scissors and pincer pliers. Worse still, none of us had mastered the techniques, and we didn't even have enough money to buy raw materials."
