Blood flows free in Hainan during holiday

A group of 70 residents of Chengmai county in Hainan province donated blood for free on Monday at the provincial blood center in Haikou. It was the sixth consecutive year that people turned out to show their regard for others during the traditional Chinese Spring Festival, the local government said.

The blood provided a warm helping hand to local hospitals, which usually face a shortage during the holiday period, officials at the Hainan Provincial Blood Center said.

"Blood donation is harmless to one's own body, but can help others. It's a good thing, so I have been doing it for 25 years,'' said Wang Zeqian, head of Tuwei village, which has more than 530 residents.

Wang started donating blood at age 32 when he was a worker in Haikou, about 50 kilometers from his hometown in Chengmai, in the northern part of tropical Hainan Island. 

He has been honored with six national awards for having donated blood for free 120 times, or a total of 1,800 milliliters of blood and 207 therapeutic doses of platelets, the blood center said.

Wang's practice has moved and inspired Tuwei residents, 14 percent of whom have donated blood during the Spring Festival holidays over the past six years. 

Meanwhile, more than 70 people from Tuwei have listed their names in the provincial emergency blood bank. The village was given a special national award for its unpaid blood donation promotion efforts.