- An 18-year-old student from Shanghai volunteered in flood relief during his graduation break
- Wu Yulun and classmate Xin Ziyu traveled over 13 hours to flood-hit Hengzhou in Guangxi province
- They helped sort and move relief supplies but avoided frontline rescue due to lack of training
An 18-year-old student from eastern China chose to spend his graduation break helping people affected by floods instead of going on a holiday. After responding to an online appeal for volunteers, he travelled to a disaster-hit region with a classmate and joined relief work, reported the South China Morning Post.
Earlier this month, Shanghai student Wu Yulun had just completed the gaokao, China's national college entrance examination, and was planning a graduation trip. But after seeing an online appeal from a volunteer group in the southwestern Guangxi region, he changed his plans and travelled to the flood-hit area instead.
Days of typhoon-driven rain had inundated parts of Guangxi, triggering floods that had killed 39 people. Wu contacted the volunteer group and learned that extra hands were urgently needed to move relief supplies. He and his classmate, Xin Ziyu, decided to travel to Hengzhou, one of the worst-hit areas.
To avoid worrying his family, Wu told his parents that he was visiting Wuxi, a city west of Shanghai. The two students spent their pocket money on relief supplies, including instant noodles, more than 250 packets of sanitary pads, sausages and ready-to-eat congee.
Wu hid the bulky packages at a parcel station near his home before packing a separate bag for what his parents believed was a holiday.
On July 9, the two students travelled for more than 13 hours to reach Hengzhou. As neither of them had rescue training, they stayed away from frontline operations and instead sorted, unloaded and moved relief supplies at a distribution centre.
Wu said they did not want to play the hero. He said helping where they could and serving as one small cog in the relief effort was enough.
According to media outlet Xinwenfang, other volunteers later carried the supplies on foot to residents stranded in remote mountain communities.
Wu's mother learned from a friend that he had joined the relief operation only after he arrived in Guangxi.
She immediately contacted him and confirmed that both students were safe. Although she did not approve of his decision to act first and explain later, she said she understood his reasons and was moved by what they had done.
After six days of volunteer work, Wu and Xin returned to Shanghai on July 15. Wu later received an admission offer from East China Normal University, one of China's most prestigious institutions.
Wuxi authorities also invited the two students to visit the city they had used as their cover story and offered them free admission to local attractions for a year.
