Li Jialun, general manager of Tianjin Aimei Film and Cultural Development, was listed among the 2009 Top 10 Inspiring Figures of Hebei province published by Yanzhao Metropolis Daily in late December.

Li Jialun

Moved by the virtues of benevolence and love of Bai Fangli, who was renowned for his devotion to education, Li Jialun, a wedding photographer, changed his profession voluntarily to become a film producer and sold his house to make a movie about Bai Fangli. “My aspiration was to show Grandpa Bai’s deeds on the silver screen,” Li said. When Bai was alive, Li contacted him several times, saying he was moved by Bai’s virtues. To make a movie for Bai Fangli, he sold his house and car, and the Li family of three had to move into the office of the company. Afterwards, when he found out that the fund for making a movie was still not enough, he sold his advertising company.

When 74-year-old Bai Fangli visited his hometown in Hebei, he was saddened after he learned that many children in his hometown could not attend school due to poverty. He immediately decided to contribute his entire pension of 5,000 yuan to Bai Jia Village Elementary School to establish The Bai Fangli Education Foundation. When he went back to Tianjin, he decided to pedal his pedi-cab to help students in need of support to receive a good education. Accordingly, Bai’s life became extraordinary after his age of 74. He contributed his benevolence and great love, or ren ai, to education and to those students in need of support.

Yanzhao Metropolis Daily is a morning newspaper published in Hebei province in the People's Republic of China. It is a citizen newspaper, owned by Hebei Daily Newspaper Group, which focuses on the daily lives and problems of city dwellers.

Other individuals and groups named to the Top 10 list are:

Zhou Ruzhen

Zhou Ruzhen, president of a senior home in Qing county, Hebei province, is devoted to caring for the old and the disabled. As of now, she has assisted 93 older residents.

Liu Xiuzhen

Lin Xiuzhen, a retired 74-year-old lawyer, is obliged to help the poor fight against powerful organizations with the Law in a bid to protect their rights for 19 years.