Li Gaofeng takes good care of the elderly who live alone. In Beijing, he takes care of more than 20 elders.
Li Gaofeng and the volunteers always pick up garbage on the ground wherever they go. It has become their habit when going out.
With the convening of the National People's Congress, Li Gaofeng became busier. He had to get up at 3 o'clock every morning, first doing his own cleaning work, then going to Xidan, Wangfujing, and the West Railway Station to do environmental protection public welfare activities. Li Gaofeng is from Fugou County, Zhoukou City, Henan Province. After coming to Beijing for work in 2001, he started doing good deeds. In 2007, he organized and established a volunteer service team for people from Henan in Beijing, developing more than 800 volunteers. He was praised as "Beijing Good Person." On January 31st this year, Premier Wen Jiabao met with him and evaluated him by saying: "Gaofeng, you not only brought glory to the people of Henan, but also brought glory to the capital and the country. You are worthy of your title 'Beijing Good Person.' If everyone could be like you, each person doing good deeds and being a good person, our society would become more harmonious and beautiful!"
Evening Paper Special Correspondent Zhang Xilei and Liao Qian wrote and took photos.
A Day in the Life of Li Gaofeng
Li Gaofeng and his wife live in a simple room of more than 10 square meters with their 10-year-old son. The house is very simple, with only one bed, one sofa, and three tables. There is a kettle for boiling water and an electric heater. However, the walls are covered with photos and certificates of Li Gaofeng participating in various volunteer activities.
On the morning of March 7th, Li Gaofeng got up at 3 o'clock, washed up simply, and pushed the cleaning cart to the Infinite Community in Chaoyang District.
He and his wife Mao Hongxia are both cleaners in the Infinite Community. They swept and loaded the garbage together until 8 o'clock when they finished the work.
Without resting, at 8:10, Li Gaofeng bought two baked cakes on the street and hurriedly went to the West Railway Station in Beijing, where he set up a civilization post and went there to do good deeds. There are two other such posts, one at Xidan and one at Wangfujing. During the NPC session, members of the Henan Volunteer Service Team in Beijing take turns on duty every day.
Helping passengers buy tickets, carrying luggage, picking up garbage, stopping others from spitting anywhere, and giving directions to passengers, he didn't rest all day long and returned home at 9 o'clock in the evening.
Doing Good Deeds, Initially to Restore the Name of Henan People
"I am Li Gaofeng, from the hometown of Laozi and Ji Hongchang." On March 6th, when he first met the reporter, he introduced himself this way. He said, this is his fixed way of introducing himself. Not only does he want to do good deeds to establish the image of Henan people, but he also wants to promote the profound culture of Henan and be a good publicity officer for Henan.
Li Gaofeng has always been proud of being born and raised in Henan, but the experiences after coming to Beijing in 2001 deeply shocked him. At that time, in the eyes of most people in Beijing and even the whole country, "Henan people" represented an uncivilized, dishonest, and unreliable group, and Henan was severely demonized. Within two months, he applied for more than 40 jobs and was rejected due to his "Henan person" identity. Someone advised him: "In the future, when looking for a job, don't say you're from Henan, just say you're from Shandong." Li Gaofeng refused on the spot. "I will not change my hometown because I can't find a job."
Li Gaofeng secretly made up his mind to use good deeds to restore the name of Henan people.
"The Fool" Li Gaofeng
When Li Gaofeng first arrived in Beijing, he lived in the Ganluyuan Xili railway dormitory in Chaoyang District. That place was in the urban-rural fringe area, with a dirty and messy living environment, especially the Erdao River filled with garbage. At that time, while still looking for work, he jumped into the river and began to fish out the garbage. Initially, the onlookers thought he was part of the river management, but when they learned that he was voluntarily fishing out the garbage, they all said he was foolish.
In September 2006, while Li Gaofeng was cleaning garbage in Ganluyuan Xili, he saw black smoke coming out of a civilian house. He immediately rushed towards the house, risking the big fire to carry out an 80-year-old grandmother. Then he once again braved the fire to bring out the gas canister.
Mao Hongxia said that during that time carrying the gas canister, Li Gaofeng was seriously scalded and it took two months to recover.
"And he suffered more than that. Because of catching thieves, Gaofeng was slashed several times, even cutting the tendons. Now there are still scars on his arms." Li Gaofeng's wife Mao Hongxia said that Li Gaofeng clearing small advertisements and catching thieves offended many people. Once, a car chased Mao Hongxia. Helpless, she jumped into a ditch. The people in the car said, tell your family not to meddle in other people's affairs, if you do again next time, we will run you over.
What Mao Hongxia found hard to accept was another thing. When they first came to Beijing, Mao Hongxia did fruit business, earning about seventy or eighty yuan a day. But finally, Li Gaofeng insisted that she should also become a community cleaner, saying that he was now too busy with public welfare, if Mao Hongxia became a cleaner, she could help him with some work, and he would have more time and energy to do public welfare.
"Beijing Good Person" Li Gaofeng
Li Gaofeng's actions touched many people, and many asked to do good deeds with Li Gaofeng. In 2007, under his initiative, the Henan Volunteer Service Team in Beijing was formed. They set up posts on the streets of Beijing to do good deeds, participated in various public welfare activities, volunteered for the Olympics, and the team developed from one person to more than 800 people, including volunteers from Heilongjiang, Shandong, Hebei, and other places.
The volunteers organized various public welfare activities throughout Beijing. Beijing Station, Xidan, Wangfujing, Guomao CBD, and Beijing West Station all left the traces of Li Gaofeng and the team members. More than ten team members were rated as excellent volunteers in Beijing, zxy_Sina Blog A.
From a set of data, we can see how many good deeds Li Gaofeng has done in these years: cleaned the second river channel, cleared tens of thousands of small advertisements, cleaned more than a hundred health blind spots, captured 28 kinds of criminal offenders, helped more than 30 disabled and lonely people, helped more than 120 people from other places find jobs in Beijing, and reclaimed more than 2.8 million yuan in wages for migrant workers...
In 2007, Li Gaofeng was rated as "Beijing Good Person" by relevant departments in Beijing.
The Troubles of "Beijing Good Person"
Li Gaofeng's reputation as "Beijing Good Person" grew larger, which also brought him troubles. He said that he now feels powerless.
Mao Hongxia said that the couple earns a total of 1600 yuan per month, which needs to support the entire family and pay for the child's tuition fees. Almost every meal is steamed bun with pickles. Sometimes they hardly save some money, but they don't know when it will be "stolen" by Gaofeng for public welfare.
"Originally, I did good deeds myself, and all I needed was effort. Now with an organization, expenses will occur, such as phone bills and so on." Li Gaofeng said, "Now more and more people are seeking my help, but since my power is limited, I feel helpless."
Li Gaofeng has another trouble. Now, more and more departments hire him as a supervisor, and more and more activities invite Henan volunteers in Beijing to participate. From Monday to Sunday, there are almost no breaks. Volunteers also have their main jobs, and his time and energy are also limited, but he finds it hard to refuse, leaving him in a difficult situation.
Li Gaofeng's troubles reached the ears of national deputies. On the afternoon of March 4th, national deputy and chairman of Tianming Group, Jiang Ming, specially donated a minivan to Li Gaofeng.