Deng Xiaolan was born in a village in Fuping, Hebei in 1943. Both of her parents were busy working when she was little, so she has lived with the villagers for about three years. Later, she came to live with her parents in Zhangjiakou. In 1970, Deng Xiaolan finished her studies at Tsinghua University. Under the influence of her parents, who both loved music, Deng learned the violin and singing when she was young. She joined the school band after entering Tsinghua University.

In 2003, Deng Xiaolan went back to Malan, a village in Fuping, to look for the places where her parents worked before. She met some children there. “Would you like to sing a song with me?” Deng asked them. However, no one could sing a song. So she decided to do something for them.

A year later, Deng Xiaolan started to teach the children to sing. She taught more than 200 children in Malan and the nearby villages. It took Deng at least seven hours to reach the villages from Beijing. Though Deng faced different challenges, she found that the children were talented, and they were able to sing a song after having just a few lessons.

Deng also brought different musical instruments to the villages so that the students could learn music better. During the years, she spent at least half a year each year teaching music.

In 2022, Deng took the children to the world stage. They sang Olympic Anthem in Greek for the Beijing Winter Olympics. On the evening of March 4,2023, Deng Xiaolan was chosen as one of the 2022 Touching China annual people.

I was on the train one afternoon. Our carriage was almost empty, just a few people. At one station, a drunk man suddenly entered the train. He shouted and swung his fists (拳头) at a woman holding a baby. Luckily the baby wasn’t hurt. Then he tried to kick an old woman. Everyone was scared.

I’d been learning aikido (合气道) for the past three years. But I’d never fought in real life. As students of aikido, we are not allowed to start a fight. “Aikido,” my teacher always told us, “is about solving conflict (解决冲突), not starting it.”     

I decided that this was my moment. If I didn’t do something fast, somebody might get hurt. So I stood up, ready to fight.

Just then, someone shouted, “Hey!” It was an old man. He was smiling at the drunk man. “What have you been drinking?” he asked.

“I’ve been drinking wine (葡萄酒), but it’s none of your business!” said the drunk man angrily. “Oh, that’s wonderful,” said the old man. Then he told how he loved drinking wine with his wife and eating watermelon.

“I also love watermelon,” said the drunk man.

“And I’m sure you have a wonderful wife, too,” said the old man.

“No,” replied the drunk man. “My wife died,” Then he began to sob (啜泣), “I have no wife, no home, no job. I’m so ashamed of myself.”

“Oh, that is so difficult. Sit down here and tell me about it,” said the old man.

As I got off the train, I realized I’d just seen real aikido in action. This was the spirit of how to solve conflict.

Living in China, it is easy for us to get clean water. However, in many other places around the world, clean water is unavailable. Take Liberia (利比里亚) as an example. Many people there have no choice but to drink dirty water. Every year, many children die of diarrhea （腹泻）.

Destinee Whitaker learned this when she entered high school. The problem worried her a lot. The American girl wanted to make a difference. She shared her wish with her schoolmates. Together, they discussed how to help people in Liberia.

The students decided to donate water purification systems (水质净化系统) to Liberia. To raise money, they held bake sales at their school. Finally, they collected enough money. Whitaker gave a check (支票) to people in Liberia. The local people were excited about the “gift”. They were moved by what the students had done.

Remember: Not everyone in the world has what we have. Not everyone lives the way we live. By putting her “big dream” into action, Whitaker changed the lives of many Liberian people. Then, what can you do to make this world a better place?