Bidding farewell to 'father of hybrid rice'

[Video provided by Feng Zhiwei and Zhu Youfang]

Yuan remembered for breakthroughs in developing high-yield strains of crop

People paid their final respects to Yuan Longping during his farewell ceremony on Monday in Changsha, Central China's Hunan province.

When a hearse drove out of Xiangya Hospital, affiliated with Central South University, at about 4 pm on Saturday, people gathered on the roadside in the rain to see it off.

Drivers stopped their cars and sounded their horns to show respect, and people on both sides of the street cried out, "Grandpa Yuan, we wish you a peaceful life in another world."

Starting from Saturday afternoon after Yuan's body was sent to the mortuary, individuals - including farmers, students, local residents and other from across the country - have been visiting the site, placing flowers and banners outside the mortuary.

People have expressed their grief in their own ways, the Southern Metropolis Daily reported. A flower shop owner in Changsha provided chrysanthemums for free. Some cab drivers transferred people arriving from other places by train to the mortuary at no charge. Some who could not come had flowers delivered to the mortuary.