Wire desk byline Sourced from Xinhua, Dawn, Arab News, Anadolu and Minute Mirror. Translated and abridged by the GSRRA Desk.
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Ten years ago, Zhang Changqin, head of the volunteer association in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, Shanxi Province, saw a sanitation worker eating a hard and cold bun with nothing but cold water on a chilly winter morning. The scene struck him deeply. At that moment, he decided to start a public welfare project — providing free breakfasts for street cleaners. He started the project in November 2016 and has been sharing the reason why he started it and what it meant with both sanitation workers and residents. Gradually, he got support from society. More and more individuals, enterprises, and social organizations began donating food and supplies. Over the past ten years, the volunteer association has sent out over 270,000 free breakfasts in total. The association, which once had only a handful of members, now has nearly 2,000 registered volunteers and has inspired thousands more citizens to join in. Beyond the breakfast program, the association has also launched other initiatives for children in difficult circumstances and for the elderly. “We will keep going,” says Zhang Changqin. “We believe that volunteer service can be a powerful force in driving social progress.”
Volunteers prepare the breakfast at the volunteer association in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Zhang Changqin (L) delivers soup to a sanitation worker in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Sanitation workers have breakfast in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Zhang Changqin (C) talks with sanitation workers in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)This photo taken on July 8, 2026 shows the portrait of Zhang Changqin, head of the volunteer association in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Zhang Changqin and a volunteer load the breakfast into the vehicle in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Zhang Changqin prepares the breakfast at the volunteer association in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Zhang Changqin closes the rear door after loading the breakfast into the vehicle in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Zhang Changqin (R) talks with sanitation workers in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Sanitation workers have breakfast in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Zhang Changqin drives to deliver breakfast for sanitation workers in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Sanitation workers line up to eat breakfast in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)Volunteers prepare the breakfast at the volunteer association in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)A sanitation worker waves goodbye to Zhang Changqin after breakfast in Yanhu District, Yuncheng City, north China’s Shanxi Province, July 8, 2026. (Xinhua/Yang Chenguang)
Prof. Engr. Zamir Ahmed Awan Founder & Chair, Global Silk Route Research Alliance
Zamir Ahmed Awan is the founder and Chair of the Global Silk Route Research Alliance,
a think tank in Islamabad. He studied engineering at Shanghai University in the 1980s, and years later he went
back to China as Pakistan's science counsellor in Beijing, from 2010 until 2016,
working on science and higher education cooperation between the two countries.…
