Every day at 8 a.m., a volunteer team appears at the Shatoujiao checkpoint in Yantian, ready to help travelers and anyone in need.

Their leader Li Dacheng was recently honored as one of the 100 "Most Beautiful" volunteers of 2025 nationwide, a title awarded by the Society Work Department of the CPC Central Committee.

Li Dacheng (L) helps a visitor to apply for an entry permit to Zhongying Street on her phone. File photos

The son of Chen Guanyu — a woman well known among long-time Shenzhen residents for her selflessness — Li learned the value of volunteer work from his mother. Chen, born in 1939 to overseas Chinese parents, returned to China with her family in 1949 and has since lived on Zhongying Street. For 60 years, she has offered free barber services to local residents, cared for 13 needy families, and donated over 3 million yuan from her stock investment profits to victims of floods and other disasters, all while leading a frugal life herself.

Chen Guanyu (L) and Li Dacheng.

In 2017, the mother-son duo officially registered the Zhongying Street volunteer team. At the launch ceremony, the 78-year-old mother handed the team flag to Li, who would carry on her cause of helping others without expecting anything in return. With support from the local government, a service station was established, and training was provided to new recruits.

Yang Meifang, a restaurant owner on the street, said the volunteers have been a great help. "They don't just give directions and help people find lost items, but also step forward whenever help is needed," Yang said. "More than once, they have helped me carry supplies into the kitchen when we were short-handed."

Wu Dan during a volunteering session.

Wu Dan, Li's closest associate on the team, is a retiree living in Futian District. She takes the metro for over an hour to serve on the team. "We were so busy when the checkpoint reopened in June 2020, with more than 40,000 visitors passing through the border," she recalled.

Since 2018, Li has led the team to visit poor mountainous regions and has donated more than 5,000 books to primary schools in Jiangxi and Sichuan. He also launched a "Firefly" program in 2023 to subsidize students in Guangxi, arranging for them to visit Shenzhen and experience city life. So far, the team has recruited over 700 members, who have collectively contributed 340,000 hours of volunteer work.

Members of the two volunteer teams pose for a photo after a joint event to clean a coastal area in Hong Kong.

Living a twin-city life on Zhongying Street, Li also helped establish a volunteer team alongside his friend Zeng Haiquan in Hong Kong, which now boasts over 100 members. When Typhoon Ragasa hit Hong Kong last year, Zeng and his team members promptly helped move a senior citizen living alone to safety.

Working together, the two volunteer teams now regularly provide services in three areas: emergency response and disaster relief, cultural performances and exchanges, and caring for the development of young people. To date, they have organized over 20 joint projects that have helped young people visit each other's cities, clean the coastline of Crooked Island, and donate to victims of the Tai Po fire.

Zhongying Street volunteers during a session to serve senior citizens.