Let’s be frank: Beijingers don’t exactly have a reputation as the most helpful people. But is that reputation deserved? For this charity issue, we asked our friends on social media to tell us about times when a stranger was there to help them. These are some of their stories.
Knight in a Shiny Black Taxi
“Last year I went out for dinner with my friends, then it started raining. I tried to take a taxi from Sanlitun to Qingnianlu. First, no taxi wanted to stop, which is very frequent here, then the rain started to get really heavy. I kept waiting for an hour in the rain, and when they stopped they were asking me to pay RMB 150 for a ride that usually costs RMB 28, and they saw I was all wet and shivering but still no one cared… I stood for an hour and a half in the rain, but still, everyone was just trying to take advantage of the situation.
“Then a car stopped and asked me if I needed help. I thought it was a black taxi, so I kept saying, ‘No thanks, I don’t want a black taxi.’ Then the guy said, ‘Sorry, I’m not a black taxi. We are an organization that helps people whenever there is heavy rain or heavy snow because we know that normal taxis won’t stop.’ So this guy and his friends use their own cars to take people back home in such circumstances.
“I was very surprised and felt happy that people actually do such things. He could be home with his family, but he chooses to help instead of resting, and he was telling me that he feels bad that normal taxis are doing this to foreigners. He actually made my day, I forgot how wet and cold I was! He even asked me if I needed a coffee and if I needed an umbrella. So when we got home I wanted to give him money, but he refused. He said that helping others is his duty. It touched me a lot.”
Keeping Watch
“Last October, after living for a month in a hotel we were finally moving to our apartment. A van picked us up with all of our stuff – we had a bunch of stuff and we barely fit in the van. Once we arrived and couldn’t park in front of the building, the driver drove a bit further, unloaded all of our stuff and just drove off!
“While my husband and I were trying to figure out how to move everything, two girls with a little dog approached us and offered to look out for our things while we took everything in the building.
They patiently waited while we were running in and out. Once we’d finished, we spoke a bit and got to know they were from Israel. Anni, if you’re reading this: Thank you! Hope to run into you again!”
I Was Lost
“My first week here I was in Shunyi. I was trying to find my way home but I couldn’t find it because my phone had died. All I had was my key, and I knew how to get home from my school. I asked a stranger, but the first problem was the language barrier. So he gave me his phone, and I typed in my school’s name. But it was an English name, and his phone could not find it, so he started to ask around. Finally, we found it, and when he realized how ill I was feeling he drove me back to my apartment.”
Saint Franziskus
“We were new in Beijing, our second day, and we walked with our little baby in the carrier to Jenny Lou’s. After shopping there we wanted to call a taxi, but there weren’t any taxis on the street. Nobody in the shops wanted to call one for us. And we couldn’t install Didi, and hadn’t got a bank account yet, so no card, no WeChat! Just cash and a credit card.
“Somebody on the street – a Chinese person who spoke German – helped us. He went into the shops asking for us, tried to install and activate Didi on our phones, and finally guided us to a bigger street, stopped a taxi, and told the driver where we live. His name we remember was very Christian: he was called Franziskus [Francis].”
The Benefactor
“I’ve made many friends here in China, many of whom made me realize that life here is not as bad as the media shows. Being a friendly person I’ve made so many friends, and that’s what’s needed to survive in China. There was one act of kindness that I experienced which made me get on my knees and thank God with tears in my eyes.
“At the end of the last semester, I realized my scholarship had been canceled, as I wasn’t able to achieve the necessary grade point average. Originally I came to China because of the scholarship, but as I’ve only a year to get my degree it was a breaking point for me. I wasn’t the only one who lost his scholarship, but most of the others had degrees from their home country or could finish it in a year or two after returning. I asked many of my friends for some cheap universities or some scholarships that I could apply to, but it was at the time when all the scholarships were closed. I asked some of the well-known established companies which I had helped before.
“As it was almost time for me to go, a boss of one of those companies, a foreigner whom I had only met once, out of the blue told me that he could help out with my tuition for one semester. I was shocked, a ray of hope rose in my heart, but still, as it was a very big thing for me I told him I would tell him if I needed it. And with a smile in my heart I kept on searching for other ways, but no luck. To make a long story short, I told that foreigner (my guardian angel), and without delay, he sent it to me the same night. I told him I will return him the money little by little as I get a job, but he said he did it just out of friendship and doesn’t need it back. I hope I can pay him back big time someday.”
This article first appeared in the beijingkids December 2018 Charity and Goodwill issue.
Photos: Adobe Creative Suite
