BEIJING, Aug. 18, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from China.org.cn on China’s disaster relief:

“We just moved in our newly renovated apartment a month ago. (It’s all ruined now) We’re absolutely devastated.”

“I’ll give you brand new furnishing free of charge.” “I’ll paint your walls for free.” “Give me the measurements of your cabinets…”

These words come from a video posted by a netizen from Zhuozhou, Hebei province and the replies in the comment section. Heavy rain caused by Typhoon Doksuri that lasted nearly two weeks resulted in flood, which damaged her new apartment. While human efforts seem inconsequential in the face of natural disasters, the will of people have proven otherwise.

We’ve seen — 

Those who walk toward the tempest head-on: The firemen and rescue team members who came to Beijing and Zhuozhou from all over China, treated every rescue as a battle. They munched bread in the rain, worked hand in hand to form a “human rope” so that they can help trapped residents out from thigh-deep water; they trudged for four hours in heavy downpour to deliver supplies to people stuck in paralyzed trains… “No.23 (Wang Hongchun), put on that ring buoy!” This is the last sentence heard from Wang Hongchun and Liu Jianmin, the two Blue Sky Rescue members who sacrificed their lives in Beijing’s flood rescue efforts.

There are also frontrunners in the relief effort who made many sacrifices to help disaster victims. Xiong Li, a grassroot official from Mentougou District in Beijing died in the flood while inspecting the flood-stricken places, at a young age of 36. CPC Party members at Shawo Village, Matou Town in Zhuozhou stayed committed to their responsibilities: Some had given up sleep for over three days, busy helping villagers, some waded door to door to help residents escape, and some left even their own families behind. Train K1178 which was headed for Beijing, was stuck for over 40 hours at Yanhecheng Station. All the crew members set aside supplies for passengers, trying to comfort them. The whole crew hadn’t eaten anything for up to 20 hours, and the staff from the station had given them everything they had left – two bags of flour.

We have also seen small sparks that light up the whole sky. When people from one place are in need, help from various places come along. The disaster-stricken places were in dire need for transportation, so taxi drivers volunteered to pool their resources and offer support. Many warehouses of book companies were flooded, so many book-lovers from across China contributed their bit to help these companies through the hard times. Many ordinary citizens bought food supplies, and put up a pot to make noodles for flood victims as well as rescue crews.  

Confronted with natural disasters, “helping others”, an already noble gesture, only becomes even more valuable. It embodies how people cherish the lives of their own kind, and stands for trust, selflessness and righteousness.

In the Chinese myth “Nvwa Butian, (Goddess Nvwa mends the sky)” a hole was poked in the sky, giving rise to heavy rain. After the hole was mended by a five-colored stone, the rain stopped, and the flood receded. Now, while the heavy rain rages, we hope the “five-colored” stone made up of the love of Chinese people, would eventually mend the poked sky.

China Mosaic

http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm 

Those who walk toward the downpour and the frontrunners in disaster relief

http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-08/18/content_104299969.htm 

BEIJING, July 27, 2023 /PRNewswire/ — A news report from China.org.cn on the dream-chasing stories of Tibetan youngsters:

Tibet is a vast but mysterious land in southwestern China. There, Tibetan youngsters are chasing their dreams.

Gesangciren comes from a herdsman family. As a child, he used to lie on the grass fields and gaze at planes flying over the sky. Back then, he only dared to imagine that one day, he himself would pilot a plane. In 2017, a policy of poverty alleviation via general aviation was carried out in Tibet, bringing new opportunities for over 20 youngsters from poor Tibetan families, including Gesangciren. From pilot training to short intercity flights, then to high-altitude long-distance flights, Gesangciren finally became one of the first batch of general aviation pilots in Tibet after repeated practice drills and rounds of screening.

One could say Gesangciren transformed his life with the help of national policy and aid projects, while Zhaxilamu, a Tibetan girl also from a herdsman family, changed her life via the internet. In Tibet, every village now has access to mobile reception. Zhaxilamu shares her daily life on short video platforms: Herding sheep, making Tibetan pastry zanba and fixing butter tea… These ordinary episodes of Tibetan life have garnered over a million followers on social media. With improved transportation and logistics in Tibet, deliveries have become more convenient, so Zhaxilamu also managed to do a great job in livestream influencing, which could help her fellow villagers market local agricultural products on the platforms. Now, she is trying to open a B&B as an additional income source for the villagers.

Danzengyixi, a cultural inheritor of traditional Tibetan Opera, is also grabbing the tide of the internet age to further promote and develop the art. It is said that he has been fond of Tibetan Opera since childhood. One time by coincidence, an opportunity came up, allowing him to learn the art from a Tibetan Opera master.

Now, Tibetan culture, with Tibetan Opera as a hallmark, has received support from the CPC and the Chinese government, and more and more young people are participating in the promotion of the art. After graduating from college in Beijing, Danzengyixi chose to go back to Tibet to further research on and promote Tibetan Opera. He compiled works, partnered with artists home and abroad, and innovated the performing art of Tibetan Opera. It is his ambition to reinvent Tibetan Opera by injecting new vitality into it.

Besides them, there is also Luobuzhandui, an English teacher who started his own business in Lhasa, hoping to open Tibetan children up to a larger world; and Cirendajie, a Tibetan teenager studying in Beijing, who received a reply to his letter from China’s Shenzhou spacecraft Taikonauts in the Tiangong space station… More stories about dreams like these are appearing every minute.

Over the past seven decades or so, absolute poverty was eradicated in Tibet; the Qinghai-Tibetan railway was completed on the Tibetan plateau, and mobile and internet reception became more accessible for ordinary people. In the new era, the CPC and the Chinese government have kept up their pace in improving public services, providing higher quality education and health care; they have made efforts to promote communication, interaction and integration among different ethnic groups, helping premium Tibetan culture gain respect while being passed on and developed. The realization of those dreams relies on the concerted efforts of the government, society and individuals. Meanwhile, it is exactly the realization of dreams that shows people the progress of modernization with Chinese characteristics in Tibet.

The vivid Tibetan life is captured in each and every Tibetan person.

China Mosaic
http://www.china.org.cn/video/node_7230027.htm

Chasing Dreams in Tibet
http://www.china.org.cn/video/2023-07/27/content_95603830.htm