Brikena Lena (left), Nabina KC Magar (middle), and Barsha Budhathoki pose for a photo in front of the service station on Sanlitun Road.

Sanlitun, a famous shopping and culinary area in Beijing's Chaoyang District, is a major draw, especially among the international community. In fact, more than 10,000 foreigners live and/or work in Sanlitun. A service station, on Sanlitun Road, opened to the public on July 20, 2024. Since then, a group of foreigners have taken shifts, as volunteers, at the station. The volunteers are members of the Sanlitun international volunteers' team, which was established in May 2023. The team currently has 88 members, including 34 foreigners from various countries such as Malaysia, India, Nepal, Albania and Brazil. The foreign members have organized and participated in colorful, public-welfare activities, during which they have shared their experiences in China, helped spread Chinese culture, and helped foster people-to-people exchanges. They have received warmth simply by lending a helping hand to people in need.

The international volunteers provide various services at the station, especially to international tourists, such as providing directions and helping resolve difficulties. 

The volunteers also participate in various activities to promote moral virtues and the spirit of volunteerism, and to help spread fine traditional Chinese culture. On the square in front of the service station, they have organized cultural activities with various themes, including traditional Chinese medicine, Chinese calligraphy, and making mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival celebration this year.

In early September, during the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which was held in Beijing, the team of international volunteers organized an activity near the service station. The volunteers, including several from African countries, introduced tourist hotspots and African culture to passersby. 

In addition to the service station, the international volunteers sometimes provide services at schools and seniors' activity centers in Sanlitun. They also teach English, and some other languages, to express delivery service workers and employees of local shops, so they can speak simple phrases to people from other countries. 

"International volunteers generally have good cross-cultural-communication skills. They help solve various problems foreigners may encounter in Sanlitun. Some of our volunteers used to be international students in Beijing. They have returned to their countries after graduation. They have brought back the volunteer-service skills they have learned here, and they have continued being volunteers," says Liu Zixin, a civil servant who works on Sanlitun Street. 

Cross-Cultural Communications

Brikena Lena, from Albania, is studying at the University of International Business and Economics (UIBE), in Beijing. She arrived in China in September 2023, and she joined the volunteers in July 2024. She had not volunteered to provide services in China until she joined the team. "I find it valuable, because you meet new friends on the team, and it is a very nice thing to help others," Lena said during a recent interview with Women of China English Monthly. 

She recalls an "unforgettable experience," in August, when the volunteers placed two chess boards near the service station, and then invited people to play chess. "There was a Chinese boy, between 5-6 years old, I guess. He played chess so well, just like a professional, and he beat all of our volunteers working that day. He was awesome, in the way he communicated with us through the interesting chess game," Lena says. 

She fondly remembers another event, during an education-plus-entertainment class for children. Lena outlined to her "little students" the geography and history of the Balkans, a region in southeast Europe. Her home country, Albania, is in the Balkans. During the lecture, Lena was glad to see the children were curious to learn about the Balkans. The children drew flags of the countries in the region, and they learned about the folk customs in the region. Lena asked the children to compare Chinese folk customs with those in the Balkans, and to discuss the similarities and differences. 

"There are so many cultures and backgrounds of countries all around the world. Being a 'volunteer teacher,' I'm happy to help kids expand their horizons. It's like sowing a 'seed' in the kids' hearts about living in a cross-cultural community," Lena explains. 

Her UIBE schoolmate, Nabina KC Magar, also enjoys the cross-cultural communications during public-welfare activities organized by the team. Magar relocated to China from her country, Nepal, in 2018. She completed four years of undergraduate education, in east China's Shandong Province, before beginning her master's program at UIBE. 

Giving back to society is a "big deal" for Magar. She is unlikely to forget the mooncake-making activity, during Mid-Autumn Festival, in mid-September. "It was special, because we, as international volunteers, were teaching Chinese children how to make a mooncake. I enjoyed a lot the opportunity to take part in a cross-cultural exchange, while learning something that could be useful in the future." 

Magar often participated as a volunteer in various activities in Nepal. However, she says that felt like she was with a "private club." She says working with the team in Sanlitun has enabled her to meet amazing people. "It provides good exposure (to the local community) and precious experiences for an international student, like me," Magar says. 

Guan Xin Jay with a senior citizen in Sanlitun

Close to Communities

Barsha Budhathoki, also from Nepal, is Magar's schoolmate and roommate. Magar introduced Budhathoki to the team in September. "Before I joined the team, I had no idea what they did, but I noticed Nabina often attended the team's events, and she looked so excited every time. Now, I think I made one of the best decisions in my life, to be a volunteer," says Budhathoki. She adds she is pleased with her personal growth since joining the team. By providing services as a volunteer, such as visiting a community, she has become less shy and able to talk randomly, and smoothly, to new people. "I know how to talk to them, and how to make them comfortable, so they are willing to ask me for help. It has been a good journey, for my life, in China," Budhathoki says. 

Once, when Budhathoki and her teammates visited a seniors' activity center in Sanlitun, elderly people peppered her with questions, such as "What do you eat?" and "What do you normally wear in Nepal?" She was happy to answer their questions, as it gave her a chance to introduce the culture of her country. She was even happier when she realized the seniors were excited to be spending time with the volunteers. "I felt like my heart had 'melted' by those elderly Chinese," Budhathoki recalls. 

Guan Xin Jay, a Malaysian student at Beijing Foreign Studies University (BFSU), also enjoyed her experience while volunteering at a seniors' activity center. There, some of the seniors taught her and the other volunteers how to make papercuts. The volunteers cut the Chinese character "xiao" (孝), which means "filial piety." 

Says Guan: "I am in the second year of my undergraduate studies at BFSU. Before this summer vacation began, I decided I would not return to Malaysia, but I would spend my vacation in China, doing something meaningful. I was glad to work with the team. We have visited some communities in Sanlitun. During our volunteer activities, I have obtained opportunities to know more about social governance in China's communities. In the past, I saw more of the tourist attractions in China. But now, I am learning what ordinary Chinese do in their daily lives. 

"In November, our team organized a themed activity on environmental protection. About 20 children, and their parents, joined, and used recycled clothes to make bags. I helped plan the activity for the community of Sanlitun. I'm so proud of it!"

Photos from Zhang Jiamin and Interviewees

(Women of China English Monthly December 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha