Chinese teenager lies to parents about holiday to secretly help flood victims in Guangxi

A teenager from eastern China told his parents he was going on holiday, but secretly travelled with a friend to a flood-stricken region to join relief efforts.

Earlier this month, 18-year-old Shanghai student Wu Yulun had just completed the gaokao, China’s national college entrance examination, and was planning a graduation trip.

But after seeing an online appeal from a volunteer group in the southwestern Guangxi region, he abandoned those plans and headed for the disaster zone instead.

Days of typhoon-driven rain had inundated parts of Guangxi, triggering floods that had killed 39 people.

Wu contacted the volunteer group and learned that extra hands were urgently needed to move relief supplies. He and his classmate Xin Ziyu decided to travel to Hengzhou, one of the worst-hit areas.

To spare his family from worrying, Wu told his parents he was visiting Wuxi, a city west of Shanghai.

The pair spent their pocket money on supplies, including instant noodles, more than 250 packets of sanitary pads, sausages and ready-to-eat congee.

Wu hid the bulky packages at a parcel station near his home before going to his room to pack a separate bag for his supposed holiday.

On July 9, the teenagers travelled for more than 13 hours to reach Hengzhou.

Aware that neither of them had rescue training, they stayed away from frontline operations and instead sorted, unloaded and moved supplies at a distribution centre.

“We did not want to play the hero,” Wu said. “Helping where we could and serving as one small cog in the relief effort was enough.”

According to media outlet Xinwenfang, other volunteers later carried the supplies on foot to residents stranded in remote mountain communities.

Wu said a textbook description of labour as a form of self-fulfilment had once seemed abstract. But after the experience, he said he finally understood it and felt proud of his contribution.

Explaining his decision, he quoted Chinese writer Lu Xun, widely regarded as the father of modern Chinese literature: “The infinite distance and countless people are all connected to me,” a line that evokes a profound sense of shared humanity.

For Wu’s parents, however, the episode was unsettling. His mother learned from a friend that he had joined the relief operation only after he arrived in Guangxi.

She immediately contacted him and confirmed that both teenagers were safe. Although she disapproved of his decision to act first and explain later, she said she understood his motives and was moved by what they had done.

After six days of volunteer work, Wu and Xin returned to Shanghai on July 15. Wu received an admission offer from East China Normal University, one of China’s most prestigious institutions.

Wuxi authorities later invited the pair to visit the city they had used as their cover story, offering them free admission to local attractions for a year.

One online observer commented: “No one could have had a cooler start to adulthood. The world will always burn brighter because of young people like them.”

“China is well protected by those brave enough to step forward,” said another.