Jet Li and Jackie Chan as Disaster Relief Volunteers in Qinghai

Since the earthquake took place in Yushu in Qinghai Province, China, a group of artistes joined the disaster relief services as volunteers. Differing from the 2008 Sichuan earthquake, the mountainous regions of Qinghai led to even more brutal living conditions after the disaster.  Thus, there were not that many artists deeply entrenched in the current volunteer operations in Qinghai.

Jet Li Lian Jie, Jackie Chan, CCTV host, Zhao Yin and Guangzhou actor, Peng Xinzhi were the few artists to participate in the Yushu rescue operations. These artists documented the daily progress through their personal blogs, so that readers can understand the location conditions first hand. Through the blogs, readers felt the deep sense of love these artists showed towards their fellow countrymen.

Jet Li Focused on Immediate Post-Disaster Reconstruction

The day after the earthquake occurred, Jet Li’s One Foundation sent a rescue team to Yushu to assist with disaster recovery. The team arrived in the middle of the night and delivered supplies to the disaster areas.  The next morning, Jet arrived in Yushu to help out. Jet Li posted a lot of photos of the local conditions in his blog, mainly showing the distribution of supplies to villagers. Over seven truckloads of water, biscuits, instant noodle, juice, medicine, and clothing were distributed to the survivors.

Jet also visited the Nangqian Hopewell Orphanage, where Hong Kong volunteer, Huang Furong, had sacrificed his life. Jet vowed to rebuild a new orphanage in Mr. Huang’s honor. He noted the need to first reconstruct the orphanage, the campus housing, rehabilitation, and poverty alleviation. He encouraged additional charitable donations to help the earthquake survivors. He added, “Private [charitable] organizations can work alongside the Chinese government’s disaster relief operations, without causing additional chaos.”

Jackie Chan Praised the Soldiers and Healthcare Workers as Heroes
Through the Jackie Chan Charity, Jackie brought a large quantity of supplies to Yushu, including Vivian Hsu Yeuk Suen’s donated clothing. Due to the lack of cotton-padded clothes and quilts in Yushu, many of  Jackie’s friends supplied those materials. However, the cargo aircraft could not transport these items. The New Seven Little Fortunes [members of the Peking Opera School troupe], who accompanied Jackie on the trip, each carried two large packages of clothing.

In 2009, the Jackie Chan Charitable Foundation donated $20 million (Yuan) to help the Qinghai youth who were seriously ill. For the earthquake, Jackie dedicated $3 million (Yuan) [as part of the previous donation] to help the children injured in Yushu.
Jackie praised the People’s Liberation Army, police officers, soldiers and medical personnel. “You have worked hard and you are our lovely heroes!”  The [charity] personnel worked at the front line to assist the disaster recovery during the day, but slept in chairs at the airports at night, in an attempt to not disturb the local villagers.

Jackie noted that the local Tibetans touched him, “Many Tibetans held my hand and told me to  be careful, to pay attention to my safety since there is a plateau. These are simple words, but they are full of inspirational power.”

Source: ent.ce.cn, Jet Li’s Official Blog

Jayne: Jet Li and Jackie Chan are highly involved in disaster recovery operations. Through blogs, many artists have encouraged the public to donate funds to help the victims of Qinghai as well. If you can help in any way, please do so!