5 March marks the 50thanniversary of the publication of Mao Zedong’s inscription of “Learn from Comrade Lei Feng”. To promote the Lei Feng Spirit and raise the awareness of civic/social responsibility and volunteerism amongst the young employees on the diplomatic service front and carry forward the motto of “Mutual Assistance, Loving Care and Dedication”, the BDS Youth League Committee called on young BDS employees to join the themed voluntary event “Learning from Lei Feng and Relay of Love”, which included creating the corporate culture of unity, care, mutual assistance and harmony, helping needy colleagues and offering assistance to the BDS’s partner of “Spiritual Civilization Construction”- the Sanjiadian Primary School of Mentougou District - through donating books and funds. Young employees of the BDS responded enthusiastically by taking proactive parts in the event.

Taking the opportunity of observing the " Month of Learning from Lei Feng" and "Tree Planting Day", the BDS Youth League Committee organized some 20 representatives of the BDS Youth League to visit the Sanjiadian Primary School at Mentougou District on 29 March to host a theme forum and donate books, among others. The team also subsequently took part in the voluntary tree planting activity for environment protection and improvement purposes.

Located in the urban-rural fringe region, the Sanjiadian Primary School is comprised mainly of children from migrant workers’ families from other parts of the country living in the neighborhood. The school entered into a partnership of “Spiritual Civilization Construction” with the BDS in late 2012. To make the theme forum motivating and practical for the children, the BDS Youth League Committee made multiple contacts with the school authorities to learn about the pupils’ needs to decide on what to offer in the presentation. The Youth League Committee of the Personnel Service Corporation made meticulous efforts to deliver the presentation in an interactive way, making use of their professional expertise in diplomatic service and focusing on English language tutoring and culture sharing. It was hoped that the presentation could serve as an eye-opener for the youngsters. All the sixty 5thgraders from the school attended the forum.

Purported to inspire the youngsters to keep track of the developments in China and the world at large and arouse their interest in humanity studies, Pei Xiaoning, Liu Xian and Wu Di, as the speakers of the forum, gave enthralling lectures under the title of "Russia – Our Neighbor" against the backdrop of the latest developments in the Sino-Russia relations. The children were ushered onto an enlightening journey of pictures, cartoons, legends and music in the 1-hour-odd course, which consisted of pre-class warm-up games, presentations on the Russian culture and food and hospitality as well as introduced the basic conditions, politics, economy, culture and customs of China’s northern neighbor to a captivated young audience who responded and participated in wholeheartedly. The Youth League volunteers also handed out Russia-made sweets and toys as gifts to the attending pupils. Towards the end of the forum, the Youth League team presented donated books of Chinese classics and children’s literature to the school and encouraged the young children to read more and work harder for a better future.