In 1980, Chen Jungui was dispatched with a team of soldiers to build roads in the Tianshan Mountains. The team was snowed in by a blizzard. As their food ran out, team leader Zheng Linshu sent them in different directions to find help. All died except for Chen.

For nearly 30 years, Chen, 55, has stayed with the tombs of his team members. Chen credited his survival to the team's last small bun, given him by team leader Zheng.

After recovering from the ordeal, Chen left his hometown in Liaoning province in 1985 and returned to the valleys in the Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region with his wife, Sun Liqin, and newborn son. They had decided to watch over the tombs of his fellow soldiers.

Over the past decades, Chen and his wife have been the first to arrive at the tombs each day, cleaning them and paying tribute to the dead, who he believes should be remembered for their sacrifice. He sought out the families of each team member, but when he learned the whereabouts of Zheng's parents, he only found their graves in Hubei province. At their gravesite, he vowed he would stay with Zheng's tomb for the rest of his life so as "not to leave Zheng lonely".