On April 19, 2026, a marathon in Yan’an New District, Shaanxi Province, drew 15,000 runners, including a significant number of international athletes.
On the track, the event was a contest of physical endurance and willpower. Off the track, a service team named after Communist role model Zhang Side, from the State Grid Shaanxi Electric Power Company, added a unique warmth to the international event.
Several days before the event, team leader Bu Yanping led the team in conducting a comprehensive inspection and maintenance check-up of the new district’s power facilities, ensuring that hotels and dining venues used by the participants had a reliable electricity supply.
On the day of the event, the team members participated in on-site volunteer services, providing directions, supplies, and other assistance to both domestic and international runners. Their practical, hands-on services created an unforgettable experience for all participants from both home and abroad.
Such cross-cultural services are not new. Last year, two international students – one from Kazakhstan and one from Indonesia – came to Yan’an specifically to learn about the spirit of “serving the people wholeheartedly.” The service team members took them along on the daily line inspections, electricity usage checks, and repairs at grassroots power supply stations, giving them a firsthand experience of Chinese service spirit.
Actually, the team’s caring spirit has been alive in Xichuankou Village, Baota District, Yan’an City, for more than two decades.
Since the year 2000, the team has listed the childless couple, Liang Cunding and his wife, as long-term assistance recipients. Although Liang has passed away, his wife continues to be carefully looked after by the team. Whether it is holiday visits, accompaniment during illness, or making sure her heating system works properly in winter, these small acts of kindness weave together a meticulous tapestry of warm, attentive care.
The service team works wholeheartedly, without concern for personal gain, ensuring that the power supply is not only reliable but also delivered with genuine considerate. Wherever one comes from and wherever one lives, light and care are never absent.
