Netizens praise quick response to outbreak
The unruly behavior of pop fans trying to catch a glimpse of their idols often makes the wrong type of headlines.
Screaming supporters frequently jostle at airports, causing disruption. Some are even bolder, booking first-class seats on flights to enable them to get closer to stars to take their pictures and ask for autographs. Others stalk celebrity performers at their hotels.
However, one recent headline was truly inspiring. More than 300 Chinese fan groups have joined forces to raise funds to obtain face masks, protective suits and other vital supplies to donate to medical professionals in Wuhan, Hubei province, the epicenter of the novel coronavirus outbreak.
On Jan 24, Lunar New Year's Eve, Tangtang, a fan of actor Deng Lun, along with another supporter, Daqi, approached more than 10,000 medical supply stores on e-commerce platforms, such as Taobao and JD, to buy masks and protective suits to donate to hospitals in Wuhan.
"Usually, we have dinner with our families on Lunar New Year's Eve, which is a happy and fun night. However, when we learned about the situation caused by the viral outbreak and that many hospitals in Wuhan were facing shortages of medical supplies, the fans had the idea of donations," said Tangtang, who lives and works in Chengdu, capital of Sichuan province.
She canceled her plans to travel with her family and stayed in Chengdu during Spring Festival. As a pharmacist working in a hospital in the city, she also stood by to work shifts.
Tangtang said she first heard about an unknown type of viral pneumonia affecting residents in Wuhan at the end of December. Some of her colleagues, including nurses and doctors, were sent to the city to ease shortages of medical personnel.
One of the doctors has been working at Hubei Jinyintan Hospital in Wuhan, which has received the majority of infected patients.
"They work day and night under great pressure. We cannot deny them help," she said.
More than 3,000 members of Deng's fan club joined in the donation effort, which raised more than 230,000 yuan ($32,752) in 12 hours.
On Jan 24, the fans bought 20,000 surgical gloves, which arrived in Wuhan three days later. On Friday, 1,200 protective goggles were sent to the city. In addition, the fans have donated 205 pieces of ultraviolet disinfection equipment and nearly 15,000 facemasks for hospitals in Wuhan.
Some people donated more than 10,000 yuan, while others, mostly students, gave less.
"We all tried our best to help," Deng said.
According to Tangtang, members of her fan club are from different parts of China, some of them living in Wuhan. To ensure the donations are transparent, she verified the accounting details with other members of the club. Each purchase list was displayed via WeChat.
"When the medical supplies arrive in Wuhan, members of the club monitor the distribution. It's teamwork," she said.
In October 2018, Tangtang launched a charity foundation for the Deng Lun Fan Club, which donated books and sports facilities for schools in remote areas of the country, including Yunnan province. All the donations were in the name of Deng, the 28-year-old actor, who has more than 35 million followers on Sina Weibo.
Kaka, a fan of actor Wu Lei, who launched donation efforts on Jan 23, said: "The most difficult part was finding medical supplies, such as facemasks and protective suits. We also needed to ensure that all the supplies we bought were genuine, which took a lot of time."
In December, when Wu, who has more than 40 million followers on his Sina Weibo account, celebrated his 20th birthday, nearly 800 fans donated 55 libraries and science laboratories to schools.
The first fan group donation to Wuhan hospitals was 1,000 protective suits, which cost nearly 70,000 yuan.
"We contacted hospitals in Wuhan, and members of the fan group in the city helped us distribute the medical supplies," Kaka said, adding that each donor is provided with detailed information about the spending, delivery and livestreaming of the distribution of donations.
"This is the collective power of individuals, who gather together because of our shared love for our idols," Kaka said. "The viral outbreak affects each one of us, so we should come together and contribute in our own ways."
Jerry Lin, a member of the global fan club for 21-year-old singer-songwriter Cai Xukun, said it has a clear division of work for the donations. Some key management members are in Wuhan, enabling fans to gain firsthand information about the situation.
"Cai Xukun has donated 600,000 yuan to help people who are battling the Wuhan novel coronavirus outbreak. As his fans, we also want to contribute," said Jerry Lin, who lives in Beijing. He added that from Jan 23 to 28, more than 600,000 yuan had been donated by Cai's fans to buy medical supplies.
"We followed the news on TV like many others. Because of the Spring Festival holiday, many medical supply factories took the week off, so it was hard to buy such products. We contacted the factories directly so that we could get enough as fast as possible," she said.
"Our fans work in different fields. We let those who work in banks do the accounting, while those working for delivery companies help monitor the transportation of the supplies. We are united because of the outbreak."
The immediate response by the fan groups to the outbreak has been applauded by netizens. Some praised their efficiency and dedication to helping people in need; others said their action had made them "heroes" and had broken the stereotype of fan behavior making the wrong type of headlines.
One netizen commented on Sina Weibo: "Fans are inspired by their idols to highlight crucial domestic social issues. The fans' kindness increases awareness of such endeavors and stimulates more donations."
Fan group culture, known as fan quan, was imported from South Korea, with that country's pop stars and supporters playing a huge role in taking K-pop to a broader audience. Fans gather in groups to meet and share information about their idols. Their activities have played a key role in driving the entertainment industry, but they have also triggered controversy, with some obsessive fans, known as sasaeng, at times breaking the law to support their heroes.
Jerry Lin said: "Fans should do what good fans do. We are also members of society who want to help and contribute."
The first group to launch donations for Wuhan was actor Zhu Yilong's charity fan club on Jan 21, according to Wang Fangyuan from Power China, a nonprofit organization, which harnessed more than 300 Chinese fan groups and helped monitor, transport and distribute donated medical supplies. Soon, more fan clubs joined the effort.
On Jan 28, Zhu, a Wuhan native, donated 1 million yuan to Wuhan's hospitals as well as highlighting the outbreak in the city on his Sina Weibo platform, which has more than 23 million followers.
With the help of the Hubei Charity Federation and China Railway Wuhan Group, 300,000 facemasks, 90,000 alcohol disinfection tablets and 2,000 bottles of liquid soap were transported to Wuhan on Jan 21.
"These fans are from all walks of life. Some helped contact facemask factories overseas, while others, who are medical professionals, helped contact hospitals in Wuhan. They are very efficient, devoted and offer help unconditionally," Wang said.
A fan from Guangzhou, capital of Guangdong province, who joined the donation drive, said: "One of the fans is a Wuhan native. She shared details of her life with us, such as persuading her parents to wear facemasks and staying at home to avoid possible infection. When an ambulance comes to her neighborhood, she is worried. She is terrified and all of the fans in the group tried to comfort her, though many of us have never met.
"Fans are a community devoted to our idols... We also play a role when disaster happens, like the ongoing viral outbreak," she said.
Li Qiang, a senior government official in Wuhan, said that by noon on Friday, the city had received public donations of about 2.6 billion yuan.
Singer-songwriter Han Hong called for her celebrity friends as well as more people to donate for Wuhan, the city hardest-hit by the outbreak.
By Thursday, more than 100 Chinese celebrities, including actors, actresses, singers and songwriters, had joined the donation effort and more than 30 million yuan had been raised via the Han Hong Love Charity Foundation, a nonprofit organization founded by Han in 2012.
"We all want to help and are doing our best to do so," Han wrote on her Sina Weibo account on Friday.
"We wake up every day and receive lots of bad news about the outbreak. However, we also have a lot of energy and are touched by many kind people, who have joined the battle in their own ways."
All interviewees use their online aliases in this story.
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