Each year China Central Television broadcasts Moving China, a now popular program conceived to publicly recognize and acclaim ordinary people who perform extraordinary deeds. The show primarily aims to recognize those citizens who unfailingly strive to help others while they themselves are faced with powerful adversity. On occasion of the broadcast's fourth year, on a cool February evening, hundreds of millions of Chinese gathered around their TVs with their families, and many a tear was shed as they took in the story of these everyday heroes.
Moving Beyond Tragedy - Hong Zhanhui
Hong Zhanhui and his younger sister are not related by blood, but for the past 12 years Hong cared for his adopted sibling and sick father, working after school to make ends meet for the family.
Hong lived a tough but peaceful life until he was 12 years old. Then, on horrific day, in a psychopathic state his father killed his one-year-old blood related sister and deserted the family. Months later, a baby girl who had been abandoned by her parents was adopted by the household. Initially the infant, now named Hong Chenchen, brought much-needed laughter to a family that had led a hard life. However, the happy times didn誸 last long. Hong's mother left home a year later. The task of supporting the family then fell on the shoulders of Hong Zhanhui, who was only 13 years old at the time.
In addition to his mentally disturbed father, Hong also had to take care of his younger brother and sister. Everyday, he hurried along the road between home and school. Despite the hardships, he never gave up. In 1997, he was enrolled in a provincial-level high-school quite far from his home. So to tend to his three-year-old sister, Hong decided to take her to school with him. After a full day's study at school, he worked part-time to earn extra money.
In 2003, Hong enrolled in the Department of Economics and Management of Huaihua University in Hunan Province. Due to his special circumstances, the university agreed to allow him to attend school with his sister, and allotted them a single dormitory. Some teachers and students in the university wanted to help him financially, but Hong proudly refused this aid, preferring to stand on his own two feet, while even managing to help out another poor student with the money he earned from his part-time jobs. In the hope that his sister would receive a school education, Hong helped her to apply for admission to the Shimen Primary School near his university.
While many of his age were thinking of little more than play, the 13-year-old Hong was forced to take care of an infant sister, a young brother and a sick father. Over the past 12 years he has also had no choice but to do odd-jobs to make a living and support his own study. Hong has been asked the same question on many occasions, 襑hat do you want the most?? 襎o have had a normal childhood like others,?Hong replies, tears welling in his eyes.
Hong can also be objective about the difficulties in his past, 襎he experience of overcoming such hardship has been a valuable experience for me.?Now he is busy establishing a foundation to help poverty-stricken students. 襂誺e led a very tough life, so I know what it means if someone extends a helping hand when you誶e in difficulty,?he says. The goal of his foundation is to build two new primary schools and help 500 educationally-deprived children to return to school in 2006.
So now, this remarkable young man, who has endured such unimaginable hardship, is working hard to realize his own dream of helping others.
The Compassionate Caregiver - Li Chunyan
As a local doctor in Datang Village of Congjiang County, Guizhou Province, 27-year-old Li Chunyan was far from famous. In fact, she was barely recognized outside of her own village. However, when the story about her persistent efforts to save a helpless newborn child was published on the Internet, Li Chunyan became something of a household name.
Living a frugal life like the other villagers, Li could barely afford such living necessities as cooking oil and salt. Despite this, she still insisted on treating poor patients free of charge. Spending so much time caring for sick children who could not afford hospitalization, she hardly had time to care for her own child. To maintain her small medical station, she spent all the money that her husband earned as a migrant worker in the city, and even sold the earrings her husband bought for her when they were married. She fed the pigs and cooked like any other rural wife, but her presence has gradually changed the lives of the locals in a great way.
Four years ago, Li graduated from a local medical school and married a young man of the Miao minority ethnic group in Datang Village. With a population of 2,500, more than 80 percent of which are Miao, it is the largest village of the ethnic group in Congjiang County. The local villagers?income is derived from farming, but the per-capita cropland is less than 470 square meters. High mountains separate the village from the outside world, and sick villagers must walk a long, tough road to see a doctor in the nearest township. Those who suffer from serious illnesses must travel to the county-level township to be treated. Apart from the inconvenient rural transport situation, locals also struggle to pay unaffordable medical expenses. Some even resort to praying to the gods or seeing witch doctors when they are sick. Although unlikely to cure their diseases, it is all they can afford with the little money they have.
With the support of her family, Li opened a medical station with 2,000 yuan she earned by selling two bulls. Rather humble in appearance, inside there is only a desk and bed. To save money for the purchase of vital medicines, she has even had to forgo the luxury of a medicine cabinet. All her medicines are placed in paper boxes, and medical appliances, if needed, are borrowed from her father. Li has never charged outpatients for medical consultation, and most villagers are so poor that they can only buy medicine on credit. She even sends out free medicine to those in extreme poverty. Also serving as a midwife in the village, she is paid no more than five yuan for delivering a baby. Sometimes she works until late into the night, and yet earns less than one yuan.
To better communicate with the locals, Li has learned the Miao language with the assistance of her husband and family. She gradually won the trust of the villagers, and now ever more people consult her about their ailments, respectfully referring to her as Doctor Li. With so much medicine purchased from her on credit, as time goes on the unpaid bills gradually mount up. Several times her medical station has lacked the cash to buy new medicines. At first, Li could buy medicine from large pharmacies on credit, but as time went on, the pharmacists learned of her predicament and would no longer allow this kind of transaction. At the time she owed a debt of more than 5,000 yuan, and was forced to buy medicine with the money that she earned by selling her family's grain.
Gradually, these debts and hardships became too much for Li to bear, and she began to consider quitting. The news spread across the village the day before she packed up to leave. That night, many villagers gathered in her medical station, with their small sums of money held in their hands. A villager said, 襎his is for our unpaid bills. If it isn誸 enough, we誰l sell grain tomorrow and pay off the rest.?
襓ou have money now, so you won誸 leave, right??another asked.
Seeing the pile of small denomination banknotes and the tense expectation in the eyes of the villagers, Li understood how much she meant to the people. She stayed.
October 3, 2004, was an unforgettable day for Li. A baby was prematurely delivered in the house of Wu Yemi, a village resident. With its trachea blocked by amniotic fluid, the newborn child, whose organs were still under-developed, was in extreme danger. Li hurried to Wu's house, and immediately attempted artificial respiration. She tried aspirating the pus from the throat of the baby, spitting repeatedly into a paper towel as she worked. But her efforts were not working, and the baby's skin began to turn a dark purple color. The baby was then transported to a hospital, and Li never gave up her rescue efforts while in transit. She rhythmically pressed the baby's chest and continued artificial respiration, but the newborn gave no reaction to her persistent attempts. After arriving at the hospital, Li was exhausted and collapsed as soon as she got out of the vehicle. The physicians spared no efforts in attempting to revive the prematurely delivered baby, but their efforts eventually failed. Li herself had tried everything to save the newborn child, without considering that the amniotic fluid she aspirated from the baby's trachea may have had negative effects on her own health. Her deeds moved all those who heard the story.
At present, Li still runs the medical station, and her husband goes to the county township to make money and pay off their debts. But their incomes are only enough to support their own family. While working as a countryside doctor, Li also must farm, and care for their two-year-old child and 80-year-old parents. What Li wants the most is to establish a public clinic in the village, and this idea has won extensive support from society. Well-wishers mail medicines and funds, and the public clinic will soon begin construction.
The Regular Rescuer - Wei Qinggang
In 1975, Wei Qinggang was born in Qianlaolou Village in Gushi County, in Henan Province's Xinyang City. Loving the water since childhood, Wei was always been a strong swimmer. According to his cousin, Peng Yuanhua, at 15 years of age, Wei saved a child who fell into a reservoir near his village, and at 26 while working in Xinyang he saved a 12-year-old girl from treacherous river currents.
In 2005 his wife gave birth to a baby girl. Wei returned home to hold a banquet when their daughter was a month old. However, before long their daughter was diagnosed as having congenital liver disease. Many villagers donated money to help with the medical treatment of Wei's daughter. 褾armers are poor themselves, but they donated more than 10,000 yuan,?Wei said. Unfortunately, their attempts to save their baby were finally in vain. This was the hardest time in Wei's life. 襂 was in no mood to do anything at the time,?he said, 褺ut, such an experience made me think hard about many different issues.?Moved by the generous behavior of his fellow villagers, Wei swore to himself that he might return their kindness and charity by his own deeds.
On August 8, 2005 a young woman fell into the sea after a violent storm hit Qingdao, a coastal city in Shandong Province. Luckily Wei was on scene, and he dove into the turbulent sea three times, attempting to rescue the victim. After finally pulling the woman to safety, he told local policemen simply that he was a migrant laborer from Henan Province, and that his name was Wei Qinggang. Then he disappeared. The lack of information provided by Wei made tracking him down extremely difficult.
Uncle Duan, a Qingdao resident whose house overlooks the sea, was using his video camera to record a wild storm sweeping through the city. At first he did not realize that a girl had fallen into the sea and was in great danger. Then he watched as a young man squeezed through the crowds on the seashore and jumped into the huge waves to save the victim. Later, Duan discovered the brave man's identity through the media: Naturally, it was Wei Qinggang. 襂 was just watching the large waves,?Wei recalls, 襴hen suddenly I heard a person behind me shout: 訦elp! Someone's fallen into the sea.?I turned around and saw her only meters away, so I ran and jumped into the water. At that moment I didn誸 think about taking off my clothes. I just threw off my shoes and jumped in.?When he dove into the sea, Wei had no idea just how dangerous and powerful the natural force of the currents can be. Perhaps the reason is that, as an interior decorator from an inland village in Henan Province, he had never seen the ocean before and never swum in the sea. 襂 had no time to think about fear at that moment,?Wei says. 襂 only thought that someone had fallen into the water and needed help. Every second could be vital to save a life. So I jumped in at once. I caught hold of the victim and began to swim towards the shore, but I couldn誸 climb out onto the dyke as it was too high. This all happened so quickly, and there weren誸 any rescue facilities on hand. Then a huge wave engulfed us, and I was separated again from her.?Wei was then pulled onto the dyke by the crowd on the shore. By this time the victim had been in the water for about 20 minutes, and the waves had swept her far from shore. Seeing there was no time to lose, Wei told a policeman that he wanted to have another go at saving the young woman. Once again, he jumped into the stormy sea. Some onlookers guessed the victim might be a relative of Wei, as he had risked his own life more than once to save her. Everyone present watched, hearts in mouth, as Wei attempted again to save the woman.
Wei tried his best in the treacherous waters to locate the drowning woman as quickly as possible. However, the battering waves continued to beat him back. The typhoon was still roaring, with the waves stirred up much silt and sand. Another danger was that the giant waves would seriously injure or even kill Wei and the drowning woman by pounding them against the solid stone dyke. After searching the water for about 10 minutes Wei found no trace of the woman. He was exhausted, and signaled to the people on the shore to pull him back to dry land. As soon as he climbed onto the shore, Wei hurried to a nearby hill and tried to locate the victim in the water. He knew that every second counted and that there may still be a remote chance that the victim could be saved.
褹s I climbed onto the shore for the second time,?says Wei, 襂 realized I should not waste any time. Firstly, I should make clear the location of the victim before my next rescue attempt, so as to save time and my energy.?While this was happening, as people on the shore were still trying to find the victim, a huge wave broke, revealing the young woman. Wei hurried down to jump into the sea for a third time and swam toward his objective. 襇y legs were both completely numb when I returned to the sea for the third time,?Wei recalls. 褺ut the only thing on my mind was to save the life.?Eventually Wei reached the victim and seized her hands. At 5:38 pm, after nearly 40 minutes of fighting the raging waves, he finally pulled the victim onto the shore. At the time he was too exhausted to stand up, but he still firmly seized the victim with his left hand to make sure she was clear of the waves.
Unfortunately, the woman had been in the sea for such a long time that she never regained consciousness. Due to his heroic deeds, Wei still won loud applause from people on the site.
Later, when interviewed by the media, Wei said, 襂t's just a small thing. People should help each other out in the face of difficulty.
襂f someone helps you out when you are in trouble,?says Wei, 襤ow could you bear it if you did not lend a hand when others fall into difficulty? At least, I couldn誸 live this way. As long as I誱 alive, I will do my best to help others. I believe every life is equal. Even if I died to save another person, I don誸 necessarily see it as a bad thing, but more as trading my life for another.?
Our magazine has covered some of the winners of CCTV's Moving China 2005, including Tai Lihua, a hearing-impaired dancer; Wang Shunyou, a mailman who has traveled by foot more than 260,000 kilometers and never delivered a letter to a wrong address; and Fei Junlong and Nie Haisheng, both astronauts on the Shenzhou-VI spacecraft. The constructors of the Qinghai-Tibet Railway, known as the highest railroad on the 襌oof of the World,?were granted the Special Award by the program.
People across the nation are deeply impressed by these moving stories. No matter how the rapid changes to the economy and society have changed life so dramatically in the recent past, we can see many people still retain an inherent good nature and admirable moral sensibility. Persistence, diligence, bravery, selflessness, and a natural predilection for helping others, are just some of the qualities to be found in these courageous men and women who have moved the nation.
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