Xie Liang, 78, has offered free guidance to people asking for directions for 6 years.
Every day, Xie goes to the Beijing's Dongzhimen Long-distance Bus Terminal, and give help to at least 1,200 people asking for directions. During holidays, the figure might even exceed 3,500. There are more than 50 roads and streets meeting at Dongzhimen, and at least 100 thousand people pass by here daily.
Last Saturday (March 3), the reporter of Beijing Youth Daily had an interview with Xie, when he arrived at the bus terminal and placed his little table with maps and guidebooks (written by himself) on it.
"Is it really free to ask you the way?" said one with a strong southeast Chinese accent.
"Of course, where would you like to go?" responded Xie with a smile.
"Quite a number of people have asked me the same question. I am a volunteer,"said Xie proudly.
The reporter found that at least 5 people came to ask him the way in a minute, and Xie gave every one of them a note telling them where to go in detail.
Xie has a husky voice, which is the result of his hard work. Now he can give precise answer to any direction inquiry within seconds. Xie has inspired several other volunteers to join him, though they can't work fulltime like him.
(chinanews.cn March 7, 2007)