After retirement, he and his wife, Xu Xuebin, were often seen lining up with students to eat in the university's canteens, and Lu would often take the bus when he went out.

His house is striking for its worn wooden furniture and old-fashioned electronic appliances - items commonly used in the 1980s. His iron bed frame was rusty.

Because of his great achievements and contributions to agriculture, Lu was selected in a nationwide poll as one of the 10 people who moved China the most in 2017.

Lu was born in 1930 in Hong Kong. He joined the Communist Party of China in 1949 and became a teacher at South China Agricultural University where he graduated in 1953. Lu was appointed president of the university in 1983 and became a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1993.