Optimism and wisdom

Ensuring the seamless supply of daily commodities and essential services in a city under lockdown is an almost impossible task, which, in the case of Shanghai, needed cooperation efforts between the local government and Shanghai's residents.

Chen Bokun, a young Shanghai resident and vlogger on the Chinese YouTube- like video sharing social media platform BiliBili. com, told the Global Times that he has learnt that many people around him faced challenges in securing fresh vegetables so he decided to volunteer as a deliveryman with an aim to solve this problem.

At the beginning, Chen would use his motorbike to deliver orders placed on food delivery apps, but he soon found that with an exponential number of orders placed, he would have to use his car to make deliveries. He also uses his car for pet transportation, and has transformed his studio space into a makeshift warehouse to store the fruits and vegetables meant for delivery. He has also asked his friends to join him in acting as delivery drivers while others handle logistics.

“In order to purchase materials in advance to meet the demand from the residents, I borrowed 100,000 yuan ( about $ 15,132) from my father, but to be honest, I found the job is not easy at all,” Chen said, noting that as of April 23, he had already helped more than 600 people, and called this “the objective of this project.”

Volunteers have also played a pivotal role in current epidemic prevention efforts, such as in organizing mass testing and in helping grassroot leaders to better serve their communities by providing whatever form of assistance is needed. Wang Xiao, another young Shanghai resident, shared his and his wife's special experiences as volunteers during the current citywide lockdown.

“My wife started an online marketplace through a WeChat group. She made an online Excel chart, and everybody would fill in whatever they had and needed. Some people would even announce that ‘ if you guys can get me some flour, then I will make some cookies or dumplings and share them with you'.”

In his wife's WeChat group, “People don't just trade in supplies. Some people also trade in their skills,” he said.