Tibet has a “Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team” that has been providing rescue services in Yushu for over 20 days.

—Giving a little effort, reaping a touch of heartfelt emotion—A Documentary on the Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team’s Relief Efforts in the Yushu Disaster Area

　　There is a team that, immediately after the 7.1-magnitude earthquake struck Yushu, Qinghai, rushed to the disaster area to carry out rescue operations. To date, they have been steadfastly fighting in the disaster zone for over 20 days and nights. Saving lives and providing medical care is their responsibility; delivering medical treatment and medicine is their mission. They are the “Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team,” dispatched by Tibet Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Co., Ltd.

　　Urgent Support: Post-80s Generation Takes the Lead

　　On April 14, following the news of the Yushu earthquake, Qizheng Tibetan Medicine, while closely monitoring the disaster situation faced by the families of its employees from Yushu, immediately launched emergency relief efforts. That very afternoon, relief supplies—including tents, blankets, coats, and medicines—were fully prepared. To ensure that emergency medicines could be delivered to the disaster area as quickly as possible, the company arranged to mobilize a team of employees specializing in Tibetan medicine to form a rescue squad, which would spend the night transporting the medicines to the affected region.

　　Hearing that a rescue team was being organized, all the employees were eager to sign up. Two Tibetan girls had been persistently following their leaders ever since the preparation of supplies began, pleading earnestly to be allowed to join the rescue efforts in the disaster zone. Right up until the early hours of the 15th, just as the rescue team was about to set off, the two girls still refused to give up. Finally, their sincerity and earnestness moved the leaders. Thus, two petite Tibetan girls were added to the originally planned six-member “men’s assault team.” This “Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team,” composed mainly of those born in the 1980s, set off overnight for Yushu.

　　On April 16, immediately after arriving in the disaster area, the Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team began joint medical treatment with the Yushu Prefecture People’s Hospital. Within half a day, they administered pain-relieving topical medications to more than 1,000 injured people. Due to aftershocks, many survivors continued to experience symptoms such as dizziness, palpitations, and stomach pain. As a result, the team’s supply of topical ointments, rubs, and Tibetan medicines tailored to specific symptoms proved highly effective and were greatly welcomed by the local population. The following day, in order to help maintain order during the relief efforts, the rescue team withdrew from Yushu immediately after distributing all the medications.

　　Entering the disaster zone, the rescue team works selflessly.

　　Although the first batch of rescue workers has withdrawn from the disaster area, they have remained closely attuned to the situation there. On the 22nd, based on the needs they had identified in the disaster zone, they urgently mobilized additional rescue personnel, critical medications, altitude sickness remedies, and vegetables. In the afternoon of the 23rd, Qizheng Tibetan Medicine once again dispatched 11 employees from Tibet and other regions to form another rescue team, which, carrying supplies and medicines worth 650,000 yuan, entered the Yushu disaster area once more.

　　Shortly after 8 a.m. on April 24, the Tibetan team members—who had traveled long distances for 12 hours—and the Lanzhou team members, after assembling in Xining, immediately set off for the Yushu disaster area without taking even a moment to rest. Although road conditions were good and everyone was racing against time to minimize travel duration, they didn't arrive in Yushu until after 9 p.m. By the time the trucks carrying supplies reached Yushu, it was already early the next morning.

　　Early on April 25, the nine team members immediately joined forces with the two colleagues who had remained in Yushu. A volunteer student from Tongji University in Shanghai, who had traveled alone to the disaster area, also proactively joined the rescue team. To ensure that relief supplies reached those affected most severely—those facing the greatest hardships and most urgent needs—and to avoid delaying the overall relief effort, everyone divided into three groups according to their respective strengths: a supply distribution group, a logistics support group, and a medical team, each carrying out its assigned rescue tasks.

　　Early on April 26, disaster-stricken residents began arriving one after another to collect relief supplies. Without even taking time to wash their faces or eat, the team members immediately plunged into their intense and busy work. Since most of the local residents are Tibetan, they were especially eager to see Tibetan doctors and receive Tibetan medicine. As a result, the Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team became extremely popular among the locals, and long lines formed as people came to seek medical treatment and request medicine. During the two-day period when the rescue team entered the disaster zone for the second time, it treated more than 300 patients in total.

　　On April 27, while providing assistance to a disaster-stricken family, the rescue team learned that their neighbor’s home had suffered catastrophic damage. Of the originally harmonious family of nine, six members had perished, and all their possessions were lost. The team members immediately set out to visit the family. But one surviving member told them: “Thank you so much for coming to help. Right now, our family still has enough supplies to keep us fed and sheltered. You’d better distribute your resources to those families who need them more urgently!” This simple remark brought tears to the team members’ eyes. To see someone thinking of others even in the face of such a devastating disaster filled the team with profound emotion.

　　On April 27, even though it was already past 9 p.m. and everyone was exhausted, no one complained or skipped a meal. After seeing off the last patient, one team member sighed: “How come none of us feels tired at all, despite working continuously at such a high altitude and performing such heavy labor?” After carefully tallying up the patient records, the rescue team had treated 116 patients that day—perhaps that’s exactly why the team members seem to have endless energy.

　　Stationed in the disaster area, we’ve endured hardship and reaped deep感动.

　　At 6:30 a.m. on April 29, the team members, as usual, got up early to prepare for the day’s work. Even though there had been two aftershocks overnight, they hadn’t affected anyone’s spirits in the slightest. After breakfast, just as everyone was getting ready to set off, a mother and her child approached the tent and timidly asked if they could have some food. The team members immediately prepared two bowls of instant noodles for them. To their surprise, after quickly finishing one bowl, the mother and child stood up and started to leave. This unexpected behavior left the team members quite puzzled. The thin-looking mother said shyly, “One bowl is enough—my child doesn’t eat much.” Team member Sangcuo replied, “It’s okay; the noodles are already prepared. If you don’t eat them, it’ll just go to waste.” At that moment, the little boy, who was only four or five years old, spoke up: “Mom and I can have just one bowl each—my dad hasn’t eaten yet.” The innocent child’s words touched everyone deeply, and they quickly began searching through their supplies for snacks, packing them up for the mother and child to take with them.

　　There are many more stories as touching and heartwarming as this one.

　　The rescue efforts and daily life in the disaster-stricken area are extremely challenging, yet all team members share the same feeling: While tirelessly giving their best efforts and enduring hardships, they find themselves every day enriched by a sense of satisfaction, deep emotional resonance, and spiritual renewal.

　　On May 3, the rescue team arrived at a family’s home. The oldest of the four children—a pair of twin girls—was only nine years old, while there was also a seven-year-old boy and a five-year-old girl. Since their father had been seriously injured in the earthquake and was transferred to Xining for treatment, the children were deeply missing him. The team members immediately pulled out their cell phones and made numerous attempts to get in touch with the children’s father, finally managing to reach him after much effort.

　　The children took turns calling their father, who was still receiving treatment in the hospital. Though still young, after experiencing this disaster, they seemed to have grown up overnight. In their words, there was nothing but greetings and comforting remarks for their father. As they prepared to part ways, the team members pulled out some money they’d brought along and gave it to the children, telling them to buy snacks. Unexpectedly, the youngest girl said, “I’m going to save this money to call Dad.”

　　Today, the Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team has been working tirelessly in the Yushu disaster area for over 20 days. During these more than 20 days and nights, they’ve been accompanied by desolate ruins, hectic work, and countless pairs of eyes filled with gratitude and hope. One team member remarked with deep emotion: “Perhaps our help can’t completely heal the emotional wounds of our fellow countrymen, but at least our compassion can offer them a bit of comfort after they’ve just experienced the heartbreak of loss and separation. Maybe this is precisely like a single starlight before dawn—though it can’t dispel the darkness entirely, it can still warm the path leading toward the light…” (Reporter: Cheng Zhurong / Text; Qizheng Tibetan Medicine Rescue Team / Photos)