Many Chinese families evade the topic of death – hoping its absence from conversation can somehow postpone its happening indefinitely.

This is even more pronounced when it comes to terminally-ill children, with many parents even failing to provide them with proper care services in their final days.

However, one Chinese pediatrician is challenging this convention, and with goals to encourage parents to see the benefits of a comfortable and pain-free death.

Her name is Zhou Xuan, a chief oncologist at Beijing Children's Hospital.

In 2013, Zhou decided she would do something to change attitudes surrounding what is known as palliative care for children.

Palliative care is a specialized medical approach with focus on providing patients with serious illnesses relief from the symptoms, pain, physical and mental stress. 

This is similar to end-of-life care or hospice care with treatment for individuals with six months or less to live. However, the difference is that palliative care can be provided upon diagnosis.

Both services remain relatively new in China.

"Many parents assume that undergoing palliative care means their child's health is near the end. Such a misconception is one of the reasons why families choose not to reach out to me until their child's condition has gotten extremely severe. Usually, by then, there's not much we can do for the patient and the family. This also explains why the majority of palliative care in China now is focused around end-of-life care," Zhou says. 

Amid these misconceptions, Zhou remained hopeful she could educate and help many families as possible.

Supported by her team of pediatric palliative care specialists, Zhou started making home visits for free. 

Five-year-old Dudu was one of her patients. He's completely paralyzed and bedridden from a brain tumor. 

Dudu's mother says, "Zhou introduced us to a music therapist when Dudu lost his ability to speak and move. We thought reading stories might make him happy, but for him it's music. Once there's music he starts blinking more and responds more to his surroundings."

Many would think it was entertainment. But for Dudu and his loved ones, music provided true comfort to make it through. 

On May 23 this year, Dudu died peacefully.

Zhou's list of patients grew over the years, as well as her team.

Despite financial challenges, her team was able to expand their services beyond house visits. They established a foundation. 

They helped eight-year-old Qiqi move into a special care unit in an elderly hospice facility after the hospital told her family to prepare for the worst.

Initially paralyzed and unable to speak, Qiqi is now able to move her hand, blink and even respond to her doctors. 

With this being the only palliative care unit for children in Beijing, Zhou hopes to open similar ones in the coming years.

In 2015, Zhou also opened an activity center, where her patients can play games, exercise and live normally.

Just 10 minutes from Beijing Children's Hospital, the center is open seven days a week and served staffed by more than 200 volunteers.

"In addition to hosting weekly activities for children, we also offer therapy sessions for adults every week. All the money we receive from donations and fundraisers goes into putting these events together," a volunteer said.

Last year, the Chinese Medical Association officially adopted “children‘s palliative care" as a sub-specialty in 45 public hospitals across the country.

It vowed to add a specialized care team to every one of these hospitals. Zhou was invited to lead the program. 

Even though this meant more work, she knew she owed it to her patients.

"When I see how my patients improve after they first came to me, it brings me a sense of joy and fulfillment beyond words. To me, it's not always about how many illnesses I can cure, but more of how much pain I can help take away from these children and their families," she said.