Spring waters first rise, spring forests first flourish. In March, the wind once again sweeps through the streets and alleys of Gangcheng District, and brushes past the familiar statue of Lei Feng. More than sixty years have passed, yet that eternally youthful smile still warms every corner of the city.

“If you are a drop of water, have you nourished an inch of land? If you are a ray of sunlight, have you illuminated a corner of darkness?” Lei Feng once wrote these words in his diary. We may try to define them with grand narratives, only to find that their true meaning lies woven into the fabric of the city, hidden in the most ordinary daily life, and embodied in every small act of kindness.

In Gangcheng, Lei Feng has never been a distant name. He is Yan Min, a retired worker who has cared for his elderly neighbours faithfully for twenty years; he is Zhao Jingsheng, a physically disabled man who doesn’t hesitate to donate blood to strangers in need; he is Liu Xiufang, affectionately known as “Grandma Sweeper,” who for forty years has kept the community clean and harmonious with just a broom; he is power worker Yan Binghai, who saved two lives in a single month, facing danger without hesitation and moving forward instinctively; and he is the countless volunteers in organisations such as the Hand-in-Hand Volunteer Team and the Gangcheng Volunteer Association…

They are not heroes in the spotlight—they are ordinary people in everyday life. Yet it is precisely these ordinary people, through day-after-day dedication, who weave small lights and acts of kindness into daily routines, making them habitual, visible, and commonplace. In doing so, they have planted the spirit of Lei Feng firmly in Gangcheng, allowing it to take root and bloom.

In the new era, how do we learn from Lei Feng? Learning from Lei Feng has never been a ceremonial act on a single day, nor does it require deliberate searching.

It is offering your seat on a crowded morning bus, visiting an elderly person living alone, carrying down the trash left in the hallway, or lending a hand to a volunteer on the street corner. It is, in every ordinary day, ordinary people extending a hand to other ordinary people.

As wave after wave of Lei Feng–like good people emerge, “Lei Feng” has long ceased to refer to just one person; he has become a collective symbol, gathering into a light that illuminates the land of Gangcheng.

People thrive together, and the city thrives with them. The abundance of good people in Gangcheng is no coincidence—it springs from the simplicity nurtured by the mountains and rivers, the culture of flowing goodness, the continual guidance of exemplary figures, and the warmth passed down through generations. It is this that gives the city its own enduring warmth.

The essence of Lei Feng’s spirit has never been in grandiose feats, but in the quiet, enduring flow of kindness. Today is Lei Feng Day, yet in Gangcheng, every day can be Lei Feng Day. That is because the true spirit of Lei Feng has already woven itself into the lifeblood of daily life, becoming a warmth we take for granted yet cannot do without.

Time passes, but Lei Feng’s image has never faded from people’s hearts; eras change, yet his spirit continues to shine brightly through the river of years. In Gangcheng, I have met many “Lei Fengs.” They are not called Lei Feng—they are you, they are me, they are every ordinary person who carries kindness in their heart.

(责任reporter :news)