On Lei Feng Day, They Donate Blood in Wuhan: Beyond Nationality, for Life

“I’ve lived in China for eight years—this is my home, too.” On March 6, the day after Lei Feng Day, 27-year-old Uzbek student Chen Tianming said this while filling out a blood donation form beside a donation bus at Optics Valley Square in Wuhan. He was joined by three other international students from China University of Geosciences (Wuhan). They were taking part in a voluntary blood donation campaign titled “Carry Forward the Spirit of Lei Feng, Walk with Health,” initiated and organized by Fu Shouzhi, Director of the Intensive Care Unit at the Optics Valley Campus of Wuhan Third Hospital.

Recently, Wuhan has been facing a sustained shortage of blood for clinical use, with hospital supplies frequently running low. Faced with critically ill patients in urgent need of transfusions, Director Fu took action. “Blood cannot be manufactured—it relies entirely on donation. We must act,” she said. She quickly reached out to the School of International Education at China University of Geosciences (Wuhan), mobilizing international student volunteers to turn compassion into action on Lei Feng Day.

“It’s meaningful to see students step forward to donate blood and pass on kindness,” Fu noted. While she has organized many public welfare activities before, this joint initiative with the university’s international education school not only responds to the call of Lei Feng Day but also aims to encourage more people to support voluntary blood donation. Each unit of donated blood will be sent to emergency rooms, ICUs, and operating rooms, helping sustain patients’ lives.

Chen Tianming, a member of the university’s “Ironman Volunteer Service Team,” has now donated blood twice in China. Joining him were students from Kyrgyzstan and Kazakhstan, all familiar faces in volunteer service. As they put it, blood donation requires no shared language—kindness itself is the best translator.

“Blood donation reflects a spirit of mutual support—‘one for all, all for one,’” said Hu Jijun, Director of the Blood Transfusion Department at Wuhan Third Hospital. He emphasized that it is thanks to such selfless volunteers that more critically ill patients are given a chance at life. At the event, Fang Jing, a senior technician from the transfusion department, distributed informational brochures and patiently explained donation procedures and precautions to the international students.

This blood donation campaign marks just the beginning. Wuhan Third Hospital’s Optics Valley Campus and the School of International Education at China University of Geosciences plan to use Lei Feng Day as a starting point to establish a long-term volunteer service partnership, encouraging more international students to take part in blood donation and public welfare activities, and to experience the warmth of China through their services.

Four international students in front of the blood donation bus

Medical staff of Wuhan Third Hospital and international students

Fang Jing, senior technician of the Blood Transfusion Department at Wuhan Third Hospital, distributes voluntary blood donation brochures to international students