Why does Chongqing’s ‘heroic spirit’ resonate so strongly?

All open flames of the mountain fires in Chongqing in SW China have finally been extinguished on Friday. According to the latest reports, the mountain forest fires in various parts of Chongqing have fully entered the stage of clearing and guarding, with “no casualties or loss of important facilities.”

Under the continuous severe heat and drought environment, extinguishing wildfires faces unimaginable difficulties and obstacles. But it took less than 10 days since the first wildfire broke out to put them all out, which is not easy to achieve. In this process, “heroic spirit” is the most popular keyword on social media platforms.

Chongqing is a mountain city. Mountains and people are connected without clear boundaries. Therefore, the mountain fires were an urgent crisis for people living in Chongqing, which has inspired the public’s great unity to protect their homes.

Such a “heroic spirit” belongs to both Chongqing and all the Chinese people. This “epic firefighting” called by netizens was supported by the whole country. Because of the severe and urgent fire situation, the national ministries and provinces such as Gansu and Yunnan all provided firm support to Chongqing, supplying vital assistance for extinguishing the fire in a short time.

At the same time, on the internet, voices of “Come on, Chongqing” cheered repeatedly, and social media platforms were full of countless touching scenes. Indeed, if there were no “heroic spirit,” it would be impossible to achieve the result through “posing.” What really resonates is that these ordinary and brave people shine with their courage, will and unity that Chinese people share in the face of disasters or external enemies.

Interestingly, the perspectives of some in the US and Western media outlets on the disaster in Chongqing are completely different from those in China. They have always observed China with a magnifying glass.

They have reported a lot about the inconvenience caused by heat, power outage and epidemic, and even taunted them. They deliberately magnified the detailed contradictions and differences that appeared in society’s response to disasters, but remained silent on the firefighting solidarity which resonated among the most in Chinese society. This is unkind or even inhumane in itself. It’s not that they have not seen it, but they do not want to believe and admit that China has done a fairly good job in dealing with disasters.

Over the past few decades, a number of people in the US and the West have studied China and thought they knew it well. But they have made predictions and judgments that have been proven completely wrong by reality. One of the main reasons for this is their lack of understanding of the Chinese character of bravery and devotion, as well as Chinese people’s resolution to defend the country. They are also unfamiliar with the Chinese tradition of social solidarity and helping each other, which has led to repeated misjudgments.

The care for the family and country is the most simple, affectionate, and powerful emotion of the Chinese people. In every crisis and emergency, whenever the country and the people need it, there are always millions of people who come forward spontaneously. These are the remarkable Chinese people, who are the base of China.