Blue Sky Rescue Team volunteers sacrifice time, money, and sometimes their lives to help disaster victims
When severe flooding hit the mountainous Mentougou district of Beijing in July 2023, it wasn’t only China’s fire brigade and army that raced to the scene. Volunteers from the Blue Sky Rescue Team, China’s largest non-government relief organization, traveled from across the city, using their own cars and public transportation, to help flood victims.
Clad in their distinctive blue uniforms, they looked professional, but none of them were being paid for their dangerous work, and some even had to fund their rescue efforts themselves. Two of these brave volunteers died during operations that helped rescue over 210 people.
The Story Behind China’s Largest Volunteer Rescue Team is a story from our issue, “Education Nation.” To read the entire issue, become a subscriber and receive the full magazine.
Zheng Yiwen is a contributing writer at The World of Chinese. She was a political journalist at The Paper and Phoenix Media, now she writes mainly about society and culture, for sharing fresh voices from China.
