Wenzhou residents lined up to donate blood?on July 23, 2011 [Chinanews.com]

Many people were sleepless on Saturday night after two bullet trains crashed on an elevated track in Wenzhou, killing at least 39 people and injuring more than 190 others. Shortly thereafter, a netizen published a post recruiting volunteers for the Third People's Hospital of Wenzhou City, where the accident happened. Three hours later, more than 100 people applied. Less than four hours after the collision, the post had been forwarded more than 500,000 times on Sina Weibo, China's Twitter-like microblogging service.

The greatest strength comes from ordinary people. These acts of kindness come from their hearts and their simple instincts. They feel empathy with the victims just as if they were their parents, brothers, sisters and children. Some survivors also returned to the scene to help others, and passersby rushed to the site to lend a hand.

In the face of both natural disasters and manmade emergencies, the fragility of life evokes sympathy. This power unites people. In a time when social credibility has been eroded by profit and self-interest and charity has been betrayed by scandal and embezzlement, good deeds give us hope for the future.

Moreover, spontaneous rescue efforts by the public show their sense of belonging. As communication and transportation systems advance, modern society has become a more closely interwoven network. Every member has a deeper bond with this community than before and should shoulder his or her responsibility.

More than 800 residents in Wenzhou city lined up that night to donate blood. Thanks to their contributions, blood stock has been more than enough to supply the victims of the accident. Almost a hundred passengers were rescued with the help of villagers in Xiaoao Village, where the accident happened, and workers. All these reflect social consciousness, strong like a sponge, absorbing tremendous power and then releasing unexpected energy. It signals the direction of social construction and management in China.

From the escalator accident in the Beijing subway to a residential building collapse in Harbin, from a bus explosion on the Beijing-Zhuhai Highway to this current train crash, the public feels the closeness between accidents and themselves. The risk has also made us to realize that reaching out to those in need is actually helping ourselves.

In risky times, every member of society should be ready to help one other and live with a spirit that "no man is an island." In modern society, everyone is a passenger on the bullet train. Without a concern for public affairs, attention to public security, an awareness of risk and consciousness of mutual aid, one cannot improve one's own stock in life, much less the constant progress of society and the nation.

This article is published in Chinese and translated by Li Shen.

Opinion articles reflect the views of their authors, not necessarily those of China.org.cn.