The Red Cross Society in Qingdao, a picturesque port city in east China's Shandong Province, receives a donation from an old man in his 70s every three months.

Every time, the man unwraps his handkerchief meticulously and takes out 300 yuan (about US$37.5) saved from his pension and hands it over. He always comes and goes on foot, saying it is a waste of money to spend one yuan (12.5 US cents) on a bus ticket.

The old man has kept doing this for more than one and a half years and has expressed his wish to be known as "weichen," the same as numerous others in the city.

Weichen is an invented name that means star dust in the universe in Chinese and it has become well known because of an anonymous woman.

The middle-aged woman donated 20,000 yuan (some US$2,500) to the Red Cross Society in Qingdao with the invented name of weichen when SARS broke out in 2003, according to Chen Min, who works for the society.

Since then, the woman has made several other donations ranging from 10,000 yuan (about US$1,250) to 50,000 yuan (some US$6,250) for those who suffered from an earthquake in northwestern China and the Indian Ocean tsunami that claimed over 200,000 lives in 2004.

Her kindness and generosity touched local residents and the Red Cross Society in Qingdao initiated a mass campaign to find out her identity.

After days of intensive press reports, the woman asked her friend to call the Red Cross to leave a message, saying she was as ordinary as a particle of dust and wanted to remain anonymous, and she wished more people would join her in helping others, just like stars shining in the dark night together.

More and more people in Qingdao began making donations via the Red Cross Society, and most of them did so in the name of weichen.

"We are so happy to see this since charity in China is usually promoted and initiated by the government," said Ding Gang, general secretary of the Red Cross Society in Qingdao.

When the Red Cross Society went onto streets in Qingdao to collect donations for victims of the 2004 tsunami, a group of poor college students donated 3,679 yuan (some US$460) "saved from meals"; A three-year-old boy donated because his mother wanted him to become a weichen when he grows up; A Red Army veteran calling himself a senior weichen donated 800 yuan (US$100).

In the end, 60 percent of donations solicited by the Red Cross Society came from weichen.

Statistics from the Ministry of Civil Affairs show unofficial donations for tsunami victims amounted to a record high of 600 million yuan (some US$75 million).

As an anonymous donation group, weichen was given the title of No. 1 of "Top 10 Philanthropists" by the China Charity Federation in October, 2005.

The Red Cross Society in Qingdao still receives the donations in the name of weichen every day.

However, the China Charity Federation says that approximately 75 percent of donations it receives comes from overseas every year, 15 percent from domestic affluent people and 10 percent from ordinary people in the country.

"The development of charity was slow until the mid 1990s. Now charitable institutions are establishing their networks across China," said Fan Baojun, Chairman of China Charity Federation.

To his delight, many people have devoted themselves to charity and set good examples for others in recent years.

In north China's Tianjin municipality, an old man named Bai Fangli raised 350,000 yuan (about US$43,750) by running a pedicab to fund the education of more than 300 children from poor families before he died last September at the age of 93.

Chong Fei, a noted young singer, donated more than 3 million yuan (some US$375,000) to aid 150 impoverished students and disabled people, living a thrifty life himself. He made a will to denote corneas before his death on April 20.

Amid difficulties brought by a large population, the public should act together with the government to help the needy, said Li Xueju, minister of civil affairs.

There are around 22 million people receiving the minimum life insurance in urban areas, and 6 million people in rural areas, according to statistics of Li's ministry.

It is crucial to raise the people's awareness of charity, the minister said.

(Xinhua News Agency May 8, 2006)