Airline passengers on a flight from Zhengzhou to Hainan in south China, were moved when they noticed one of the flight attendants feeding a man with disabilities, bringing him to tears.

The moment was captured on December 8, Fan Xuesong knelt down and fed the 71-year-old named Mr Niu, who recently suffered from a stroke and is unable to grip a spoon to eat, reports The People's Daily Online.

Speaking to reporters after the photos of the touching moment moved millions in China, flight attendant Fan said: 'When I started to feed him dinner, the old man suddenly began to cry.'

An air hostess from China's Hainan airlines was pictured feeding a disabled elderly passenger on December 8

Deeply touched: After the hostess, named Fan Xuesong, started to feed man, he was brought to tears

Miss Fan is being praised in China for her good deed on the HU7302 flight from Zhengzhou to Haikou city.

Two years ago Mr Niu, who is a retired professor of medicine, had a stroke that left him partially paralysed and wheelchair bound, his wife and child are now his sole carers.

Mr Niu was said to be travelling with his wife at the time.

Miss Fan said she had him transferred to the front seat where there is more space and it is more convenient for him to go to the bathroom, but mainly so she could properly care for him.

Mr Niu's wife, however, was not given a priority seat, which resulted in the couple sitting apart.

Miss Fan noticed Mr Niu was struggling when he was given his food to eat, so she helped him by carefully feeding him.

'When I said I wanted to feed him, he suddenly felt touched and started to cry,' she said.

Miss Fan fed him rice which he found too hard to chew, so she grabbed a box of noodles, he chocked several times but she was patient.

Clearly emotional: The flight attendant wipes away the man's tears after she helped him eat his dinner

This made Mr Niu cry even more, so she had to grab some tissues to wipe his tears away.

A passenger who saw the event unfold took a photo then uploaded it to Weibo - Chinese social media similar to Twitter - where it was shared by millions who also felt touched by the story.

One person replied to the images: 'Real service does not depend on the training and requirements, it is heartfelt feelings.'

The set of pictures were also shared by the official Weibo account of Hainan Airlines, which has more than 1.6 million followers.

Mr Niu told local reporters: 'Someone tried to take her photo and she asked them not to. I couldn't help but cry as she helped me eat, blew my nose and wiped away my tears.

'I do not know the girls name but given the chance I would thank her again.'

The pictures have moved millions of Chinese web users after they appeared on social media this week

Fan Xuesong became a flight attendant in 2004, she has worked hard for eleven years and is yet to find a husband.

She didn't think twice about helping him. 'Mr Niu worked hard all his life and contributed to society, we should be kind to him,' she said.

Though some people online did question the images saying if he was sitting in first class then the flight attendants will naturally be given special treatment.

But the People's Daily reporter learned that the location of Mr Niu was first row of the cabin, not first class.