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Around China: Elderly man wages war on drugs in NW China
XI'AN, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Retiree Wang Qingquan, 80, has devoted the past 15 years to his one-man anti-drug campaign that has brought him local fame in his hometown of Gaoling township of Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi province.
When talking about why he started his anti-drug campaign, Wang said that his older brother died at a very young age due to an opium addiction that began after he was given opium as a painkiller, and his father passed away in his fifties because he could not afford to go to hospital because the family's funds had been drained by his brother's drug habit.
One day in 1997, Wang saw local police sending a group of drug users to a drug rehabilitation center. It was at that moment that he made up his mind to begin the anti-drug campaign, as he realized that raising awareness about the dangers of drugs is the key to fighting drug use.
At that time, Wang had only recently retired, but he began to gather information about the dangers of drugs and relevant anti-drug reports. He made display boards and posters and carried them with him as he rode his bicycle to schools and community centers.
Wang said security guards once blocked him from entering a local middle school, as the colorful posters on his bike made them think he was a salesman.
Later, he had a chance encounter with the school's headmaster and told him about his plans. The headmaster allowed Wang to speak to 1,200 students and teachers at the school and hold an anti-drug exhibition, marking Wang's first success in his anti-drug campaign.
Since then, Wang has devoted all his time to his personal campaign. He collects materials, such as newspaper clippings, and visits elementary schools and high schools to give lectures and hold exhibitions.
Young students have always been the main target in Wang's campaign. He even started using his own money to print anti-drug news briefings after he learned that students lacked such materials. He has since published over 26,740 copies of 1,600 issues of his news briefings.
Around China: Elderly man wages war on drugs in NW China - Xinhua | English.news.cn
Drug Addicts.
XI'AN, June 26 (Xinhua) -- Retiree Wang Qingquan, 80, has devoted the past 15 years to his one-man anti-drug campaign that has brought him local fame in his hometown of Gaoling township of Xi'an in northwest China's Shaanxi province.
When talking about why he started his anti-drug campaign, Wang said that his older brother died at a very young age due to an opium addiction that began after he was given opium as a painkiller, and his father passed away in his fifties because he could not afford to go to hospital because the family's funds had been drained by his brother's drug habit.
One day in 1997, Wang saw local police sending a group of drug users to a drug rehabilitation center. It was at that moment that he made up his mind to begin the anti-drug campaign, as he realized that raising awareness about the dangers of drugs is the key to fighting drug use.
At that time, Wang had only recently retired, but he began to gather information about the dangers of drugs and relevant anti-drug reports. He made display boards and posters and carried them with him as he rode his bicycle to schools and community centers.
Wang said security guards once blocked him from entering a local middle school, as the colorful posters on his bike made them think he was a salesman.
Later, he had a chance encounter with the school's headmaster and told him about his plans. The headmaster allowed Wang to speak to 1,200 students and teachers at the school and hold an anti-drug exhibition, marking Wang's first success in his anti-drug campaign.
Since then, Wang has devoted all his time to his personal campaign. He collects materials, such as newspaper clippings, and visits elementary schools and high schools to give lectures and hold exhibitions.
Young students have always been the main target in Wang's campaign. He even started using his own money to print anti-drug news briefings after he learned that students lacked such materials. He has since published over 26,740 copies of 1,600 issues of his news briefings.
Around China: Elderly man wages war on drugs in NW China - Xinhua | English.news.cn
Drug Addicts.
