Besides its academic excellence, Wuhan University (WHU) is famous for its thriving cherry blossoms in spring. Every year, the romantic cherry blossoms and the Chinese-style buildings complement each other, attracting a large number of tourists from home and abroad to revel in its beauty. The dedicated volunteers who spare every effort to help the tourists contribute to the most beautiful scenery under the cherry blossom, making it an excellent experience for tourists coming from afar.
The appointment period for entering the school is from March 15th to March 27th, 8:30-17:30 on weekdays and 8:00-18:00 on weekends, and the number of people is limited to about 15,000 on weekdays and 30,000 on weekends.
During this period, many people enjoy the cherry blossoms, and the campus is always crowded with people, so volunteers find it difficult to maintain order. This situation makes the student volunteers take the initiative to stand up to help the campus keep order by guiding tourists and protecting the cherry blossoms tree. Thanks to these guardians of the cherry blossoms, visitors have an enjoyable cherry blossom viewing experience with minimal inconvenience to students and staffs in WHU.
Student volunteers preparing for the activities
Zhao Tingye and Fang Yan are two volunteers at the School of Journalism and Communication, WHU. Their main task is to actively provide assistance to tourists. For example, volunteers would guide tourists who are not familiar with the route to the scenic spots, and sometimes take pictures for them.
Despite the seemingly repetitive and laborious nature of the work, there are moments of inspiration that brighten up the volunteers’ mood. Fang Yan worked at the Medics-only Appreciation Event of Cherry Blossoms. Anti-epidemic medical staff and their families strolled along Yinghua Avenue, taking group photos under the cherry blossom trees, exuding a joyful atmosphere with the help of the volunteers. “I felt it a great honor to be able to express the most sincere and profound gratitude of Wuhan University teachers and students to medical staff through the services,” said Fang Yan.
“During this cherry blossom volunteer activity, what impressed me the most is the encounter with several Japanese tourists,” Fang Yan recalled, “These Japanese tourists asked us for directions. Though only one of us knew little Japanese, we still completed our conversation with a lot of body language. I was gratified that we could help them.” Zhao Tingye met a surdomute tourist during the volunteer process where they communicated by typing on their mobile phones. The fervor of sending help is not hindered by communication barriers, encouraging the volunteers to rise up to responsibilities more actively.
Student volunteers guiding the way for tourists
Regarding the feelings about participating in this activity, “I think my volunteer activities are a kind of relaxation for my study activities on campus, and they have really enriched my life. I also made some friends.” said Zhao Tingye.
Volunteers taking a picture after a day’s work
With these kind-hearted people assisting the visits, the visitors are able to relax and enjoy on campus. Visitors arrive early in the morning to capture the moment of the dreamlike scene that cherry blossoms bath in the sunlight and flutter in the wind, and also to record their encounter with WHU. The white cherry blossom petals dance in front of the century-old architecture, bringing beautiful blessings to every visitor.
A young couple said, “This is our first visit to WHU, and as soon as we entered, we are impressed by its historical sense and the cultural heritage. Different from that in my hometown, the cherry blossoms here exude more a sense of purity.” Meanwhile, the young man enthusiastically added, “The historical buildings and the pure white cherry blossoms complement each other perfectly, which cannot be seen anywhere else in China.”
An 83-year-old who had visited WHU 60 years ago also shared, “The changes at Wuhan University are truly remarkable. From the scenery to the academic strength and reputation, its development is really unbelievable.”
The cherry blossoms have accompanied generation after generation, witnessing the campus to get better and better. The scene of tourists and volunteers showing mutual consideration and kindness to each other is the most beautiful scenery under the cherry blossoms .
Photo by Wang Jiayu
Edit by Fu Wantong, Li Jing, Liang Tong
