122,000 visitors on October 4^th

73,000 visitors on October 5^th

……

During National Day holiday, 70 volunteers from Purple Grass Learn-from-Lei Feng Group offered services for visitors including guidance, medical care, flowers distribution and performances and helped to secure the orderly operation of the Memorial. “It is my pleasure” was said the most frequently by the volunteers.

Cai Xuelian, a junior undergraduate from Nanjing XiaoZhuang University, was one of the volunteers. She was the team leader of the volunteer commentators. During the holiday, she did not go back home, but rather came to the Memorial to be a volunteer.

Deal with a great many visitors, feeling tired but fulfilled

Cai Xuelian stood at the entrance of the exhibition hall and instructed visitors to scan the QR code of WeChat Account of the Memorial in order for them to listen to free-of-charge voice guide.

Cai Xuelian said smiling, “what I said today in the Memorial is more than what I did in a week in university. Being able to help visitors, I feel quite fulfilled.” At the end of the day, she lost her voice and her skin was tanned. But upon hearing thanks from the audience, she felt that all her fatigue evaporated.

Repeated practices to form her unique style

In the second half of 2017, Cai Xuelian, being a freshman that year, passed multi-layered evaluation and became a volunteer commentator for the Memorial.

She had stage fright at the beginning, being afraid of saying something wrong and being unable to answer questions from the audience. Therefore, she came to the Memorial for practices when not having classes. “I have practices over and over again. On top of memorizing words of explanation, I read quite many books of Nanjing Massacre when I’m available. And now I don’t get stage fright anymore!” She said this, feeling proud. She told history to the audience when explaining to the them, thus forming her unique style. “Now I’m in charge of explanation of the Memorial, the front hall and the preface. Using my own style, I share the history with the audience.”

Feel deeply touched upon hearing thanks

One time when she volunteered in Nanjing Museum of the Site of Lijixiang Comfort Stations, she met some girls about her own age. “They are crying heartbrokenly, and I try to comfort them. The audience feel impressive after listening to my explanation and it makes me feel that my work is meaningful as a volunteer.” There was another time when a granny followed her all the way through the visit. After the tour, the granny chatted with her with passion. “The granny is a relative of a veteran fighting the war. She comes to the Memorial every year. She says thank-you to me several times. And she feels pleased seeing me here as a volunteer.” On the first day after the public memorial day of Nanjing Massacre, it was drizzling but many visitors came to the Memorial. Volunteers worked from the opening of the Memorial till the very closing. She took a shift with other volunteers in guiding the audience through the square into the hall. “The audience are very sincere. Many of them say thanks to me. Although being quite tired, I feel deeply touched after hearing thanks from them with a sense of fulfillment and achievement.” 

Pass the spirit down from generation to generation

Since 1994, Nanjing XiaoZhuang University, being located next to the Memorial, has formed a group of volunteers. When students of one class graduate, those of the next class take the baton. Cai Xue-lian joined the volunteer group because of the influence by senior alumna. She said frankly that “sometimes there are conflicts between studying in university and volunteering in the Memorial. That’s when a sense of slack creeps in. But my seniors encourage me, comfort me and teach me how to deal with studying and volunteering.” In the volunteer recruiting campaign, she met granny Xia Shuqin, a survivor of Nanjing Massacre. “I assist her in signing her name, and she says thanks to me several times. Seeing granny Xia as a witness of the Massacre enables me to feel that this episode of history truly exists.” The experience of interacting with granny Xia helped Cai Xuelian make up her mind to be a volunteer. “I’m the team leader and I have the responsibility of leading the team with continuous efforts. Those juniors are very sincere and proactive in participating in volunteer activities. I believe our volunteer team will go on. The spirit of volunteer will be passed on and carried forward.”

There were many other volunteers that we didn’t cover and they made their contribution quietly. We saw kindness, devotion and dedication in them. Thank you, angel in purple!

Proofreaders | Li-Ling, Zhao Yi-han, Yu Yue-hua

Editor | Pan Lin-na

Signer and Issuer | Ling Xi