8 | Friday, May 7, 2021 HONG KONG EDITION | CHINA DAILY PATH TO GLORY

Engineer sparks his co-workers to new highs

By YANG CHENG in Tianjin

Power maintenance engineer Zhang Liming, 52, is a well­ known figure in Tianjin due to his dedication to maintaining communities’ electricity sup­ plies for more than 30 years. An employee of the State Grid Tianjin branch’s Binhai subsidi­ ary, Zhang has been granted several titles for his work, including Excellent Member of the Communist Party of China, Role Model of the Times and National Morale Model. Zhang has memorized many paths around the Binhai New Area in order to quickly answer service calls, and residents wel­ come him as a family member. Over the years, he has drawn up maps of the coastal area to help him find a location when he is called out on a job. He always leaves his phone on to Zhang Boli (center), president of Tianjin University of Traditional Chinese Medicine, revisits the site of a makeshift hospital in Jiangxia district in Wuhan, Hubei province, answer maintenance requests last month, where he headed a team specializing in using TCM to fight the COVID­19 outbreak. CHENG MIN / XINHUA and according to his work logs, he has covered 80,000 kilome­ ters over the past three decades. Liu Liqin, a resident of Huianli community in Binhai, said she called him to fix a power problem TCM doctor who remedied a crisis on Oct 1, which was a holiday. “However, after the mainte­ nance work, Zhang found our 50 percent from over 80 percent tive in treating the virus. occurred within a week of the community had electrical haz­ Physician took his faith in traditional at the beginning of the month. In total, TCM drugs were given to TCM hospital opening. ards, such as cables piled in the medicine to Wuhan to turn outbreak around 90 percent of COVID­19 patients in On Feb 19, he underwent gall­ corner of an old building. Tried and tested Wuhan, relieving symptoms, slow­ bladder surgery but kept the news “Unlike other utility workers By Feb 12, Zhang was leading ing the progress of the disease, from most of his colleagues and who ignore other problems aft­ By XU WEIWEI in Hong Kong close contact with infected peo­ more than 200 TCM doctors from reducing mortality and boosting loved ones. er completing their own work, and YANG CHENG in Tianjin ple. across the country who were sta­ recovery, Zhang said. He made sure his surgical scar Zhang asked his colleagues to Moreover, Zhang, who fought tioned at a makeshift hospital in However, he said the successful was concealed by his medical gown. come and help us clear all of the Surrounded by a crowd of anx­ the severe acute respiratory syn­ Jiangxia district, Wuhan. It was the application of TCM was achieved in “I wanted to keep up the confidence cables, removing any possible ious COVID­19 patients in a tiny drome outbreak in 2003 with tra­ first and only temporary hospital conjunction with the use of West­ and morale of my team,” he said. risks,” she said. room in a Wuhan clinic, doctor ditional Chinese medicine, dedicated to TCM treatment dur­ ern medicine. Zhang Boli could sense their suggested that all patients, ing the outbreak. “For a critically ill patient, a ven­ International aid fears — as well as hopes — just by except those in intensive care Two days after it opened, all tilator and oxygen certainly help After returning to Tianjin from looking at them. units, be encouraged to take tra­ patients were prescribed with TCM save a life,” he said. Wuhan, Zhang participated in It was late January last year, and ditional Chinese herbal decoc­ treatments such as qingfei paidu By March 19 last year, Wuhan, dozens of video sessions to share China was celebrating the Spring tions. decoction and xuanfei baidu for­ which has a population of more his TCM treatment methods with Festival. Zhang, head of the Tian­ The decoctions could help rid mula, together with massages, acu­ than 10 million, finally saw zero medical practitioners overseas. jin University of Traditional Chi­ people of “dampness in the puncture and exercises such as tai new cases for the first time since “Regardless of national bounda­ nese Medicine, had rushed to body”, as suggested in TCM man­ chi and baduanjin, a traditional the massive outbreak. ries, I hope TCM can help more Hubei province on Jan 27 as he uals, Zhang said. form of aerobics. people worldwide,” he said. was worried about the risk of During the battle to contain No infected patients at the hospi­ Personal sacrifice According to the National cross­infections from the virus. SARS, Zhang had managed to tal receiving TCM treatment pro­ Zhang was among the cheering Administration of TCM, China had Zhang Liming checks equip­ As a member of the Commu­ lead a TCM team in establishing gressed from a mild to serious crowd of medical staff celebrating shared TCM therapy, prescriptions ment during a mission to nist Party of China and an acade­ the only TCM “red zone” to treat condition, and no recovered the achievement when he was sud­ and clinical experiences on dealing help guarantee the smooth mician of the Chinese Academy confirmed patients, and their patients tested positive again, denly presented with a cake. “Happy with COVID­19 with more than 80 operation of the power grid of Engineering, he said he felt an experiences were documented Zhang said. No medical staff were birthday!” his colleagues shouted. countries and regions by December. during the COVID­19 lock­ enormous duty to volunteer for by the World Health Organiza­ infected with the virus. Zhang had forgotten it was his The lianhua qingwen capsule, a down in Shijiazhuang, Hebei the front line. tion. The success rate of TCM com­ 72nd birthday. “This was the best patented TCM treatment for COV­ province, in January. He immediately warned his His proposal to administer pares with WHO figures that show ever birthday for me,” he said. ID­19, has received marketing PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY colleagues the patients should TCM was soon put into action. 10 percent to 15 percent of COVID­19 His son, Zhang Lei, a TCM doc­ approval in more than 10 coun­ not be crammed together in such On the first day, more than cases develop into more severe ones. tor, also traveled to Wuhan to join tries and regions. Her experience is just one close conditions. 3,000 confirmed patients took TCM treatment was also used in the fight against the virus. On Sept 8, Zhang was conferred example of why Zhang’s volun­ With no effective medicine yet TCM doses offered by his team the isolation wards of 16 makeshift He worked at another hospital the national honorary title Peo­ teer spirit has won him praise for the virus, Zhang proposed and their conditions started to hospitals for COVID­19 patients in and did not learn until later that ple’s Hero by President Xi Jinping from grassroots people. that the patients should be classi­ improve. Over the following days, Wuhan, and after that the rate of his father had undergone surgery. at the Great Hall of the People in Another service he provides fied into four groups: those con­ hundreds of thousands of patients patients developing severe condi­ Due to the intense workload, little Beijing. for free is changing the light firmed with COVID­19; those were administered with the TCM tions reduced substantially, Zhang sleep and an irregular diet, Zhang bulbs in elderly residents’ homes. with an apparent fever; those decoction and other remedies. said. had been experiencing sudden, Contact the writers at While he is proud of his blue with suspected symptoms; and By mid­February, the propor­ China’s National Administration sharp pain in the upper right­hand [email protected] collar work, Zhang has also con­ those who needed to undergo tion of confirmed cases with seri­ of TCM says that at least six TCM side of his stomach. The pain was centrated on introducing tech­ observation after coming into ous symptoms dropped to under drugs have been shown to be effec­ caused by cholecystitis and Xinhua contributed to this story. nological innovations. The Binhai subsidiary has finished more than 500 techno­ have launched a number of offline logical upgrades and received Students move to help and offline training courses in Xin­ 192 national­level patents, with jiang and Gansu province. Zhang playing a major role. Many have won national or pro­ Nine staff members of the com­ less-fortunate kids vincial awards, thanks to their pany received the May 1 Labor efforts to innovate educational Medal in Tianjin given to grass­ content. Through the university, roots workers. By YANG CHENG in Tianjin In December 1927, the 29­year­ they have provided a range of high­ “Zhang’s outstanding contri­ [email protected] old was killed during a labor strike tech teaching resources for the butions lie in the fact that he has action in Guangzhou in South needy, which have boosted the iso­ inspired a number of young As the national anthem was China’s Guangdong province, lated students’ enthusiasm for engineers in innovation and broadcast by the campus radio of offering his life and youth to the study and inspired efforts to voluntary contributions,” said Tianjin University on the morning cause of building a new society change their lives. Shi Xueqian, deputy Party chief of April 4 — Qingming Festival, or and a new China. While class members have the State Grid’s Tianjin branch. Tomb­Sweeping Day — a group of His oath was “I want to become inspired Chinese students and fac­ The country’s first “intelli­ students stood in line before pre­ thunder to break up the ‘old world’.” Students from Tianjin Universi­ ulties, expat teachers at the univer­ gent power town” was officially senting flower baskets and paying During the April 4 commemora­ ty’s Tailei Class (above) inter­ sity have also joined education aid launched this March in Binhai silent tribute to a statue of Zhang tions, the students pledged to learn acts with poverty­stricken programs in Gansu province. with the support of Zhang’s Tailei (1898­1927), the first member patriotic spirit from Zhang and students in Tanchang, Gansu Italian Lorenzo Pecoraro, a pro­ team. The project expects to of the Communist Party of China in pledged to the Party that they province, last year. The class is fessor at the university’s Pharma­ reduce electricity costs for con­ the northern municipality. would replicate his commitment named after Zhang Tailei (left), ceutical Science and Technology sumers by 10 percent, com­ They were from the Tailei Class, a and contribute to the country’s the first Communist Party of School, is one of them, and his pared with ordinary industrial training program named for the future. China member in Tianjin. moving stories made headline and residential towns. martyr, whose members are recruit­ According to the university, the PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY news during the COVID­19 epi­ Zhang has not only inspired ed at the prestigious university via Tailei Class was established in demic. the Binhai arm of the company, stringent tests including regular 2006 in a bid to boost leadership the descendants of other revolu­ jiang Uygur autonomous region in Pecoraro wrote to the university, but also the entire Tianjin curricular studies and morality. for students and foster more youth tionary leaders at several patriotic Northwest China. She also orga­ saying he hoped to teach poverty­ branch with more Party mem­ In their spare time, the members leaders with patriotic spirit. education centers around the nized a “Jin­Jin” Online Class (as stricken students in Tanchang, bers following his lead on vol­ are dedicated to the study of Marx­ Since the first session in October country, and taken part in a series both places have “jin” in their Gansu, where the school has a untary work and innovations. ism, Socialism with Chinese Char­ 2006, more than 400 students of volunteer, startup and poverty names) to connect Tianjin and “Dream Class” program in which a Huang Xu, an engineer acteristics and taking part in the have joined the program. alleviation projects. Erjin, and arranged for students number of Chinese teachers and awarded the May 1 Labor Med­ country’s poverty­relief efforts. Class members have visited from Tianjin University to deliver students are making efforts to al, said: “Since I joined the com­ Zhang was an early leader of the many places associated with Poverty relief efforts lectures to students in remote Xin­ change local people’s lives. His pany, I have been impressed by CPC and one of the founders of the Zhang, including Changzhou, his Many of the students have raised jiang. hopes became reality in June dur­ Zhang and learned from his Chinese Communist Youth League. hometown in the eastern province donations for poverty­stricken are­ “We really hope to pass on the ing the epidemic. efforts to address the needs of After graduating from Tianjin of Jiangsu and Guangzhou, where as. spirit of Zhang Tailei, benefiting “I would like to use my experi­ the grassroots people and University — then called Beiyang he died. Sun Qing, a member of the 13th more students at the grassroots ence to teach children from Chi­ remain hungry for innovation.” University — he joined the demo­ They have also investigated the session of the Tailei Class, collect­ level and help them lead brilliant na’s poor rural areas and I hope to Zhang said his work is a small cratic revolution and led the youth development of the areas and held ed 4,500 yuan ($687) for Banjielou future lives,” she said. offer more such opportunities to contribution but something movement. talks with a number of experts and Primary School Erjin county, Xin­ In addition, Tailei Class students less well­off students,” he said. every “CPC member should do”.