Chinese social media is flooding with posts praising the “heroes of the city”: all the firefighters, officers, soldiers, and Chinese citizens who fought ‘fire with fire’ and joined hands in combating the Chongqing wildfires under extreme weather conditions. The Chongqing wildfire containment has also fuelled patriotism among netizens.

This week, the mountain fires raging in Chongqing have become a big topic on Chinese social media. On Friday, the topic attracted at least one billion views on Weibo after professional firefighters and volunteers worked around the clock to contain the wildfire in the city’s Beibei District (#重庆山火#).

The fight to contain the fire became a collective effort, with thousands of Chinese volunteers from Chongqing and beyond coming to the scene to help in any way they could. Professional firefighters from other regions also came to the rescue, including teams from Yunnan and Gansu Province that specialize in forest fires.

Videos taken at the scene on Jinyun Mountain on Thursday evening showed countless people helping out at the mountain, some footage captured how people were shouting out “come on!” (“雄起!”) at each other for encouragement.

The southwestern regions of Chongqing and Sichuan Province have been battling forest fires since mid-August after the region has been facing scorching temperatures and severe drought.

Meanwhile, there have also been power cuts in Sichuan and Chongqing due to power shortages during the extreme summer.

At the same time, the city is also handling an emerging Covid outbreak and rolled out a mass testing campaign in order to test about 10 million residents in the city.

Chongqing is dealing with a lot: the wildfires are burning, the power cuts are leaving parts of the city in the dark, meanwhile the Covid tests are ongoing. (Image on Weibo, it says: mountain fire – power restrictions – nucleic acid) pic.twitter.com/rNxU62iu1A

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) August 25, 2022

One image that circulated on Weibo showed a photo of Chongqing dealing with mountain fires, power cuts, and Covid test lines all at the same time.

 
Nixingzhe: The Heroes Going Against the Current
 

On the early morning of August 26, when the Beibei District fire was under control, Chinese social media flooded with posts praising the “heroes of the city”: all the firefighters, officers, soldiers, and common citizens who joined hands to combat the fires under extreme weather conditions.

Dramatic photos and digital artworks also circulated on Chinese social media, including photoshopped images produced by netizens and state media.

“Heroism of Chinese” image dedicated to Chongqing firefighters.

One photo from the scene (displayed below) served as an inspiration for other online posters and edited images, including one by state media outlet People’s Daily.

This image from the scene of the forest fires is one of the iconic photos that inspired others to edit and replicate it.

People’s Daily online poster.

People’s Daily published multiple images evoking feelings of patriotism, such as a bird’s eye view photo of the mountain fire and the rescue efforts, writing: “These are the amazing Chinese people” (“这就是了不起的中国人”).

On social media, the Chongqing firefighters are referred to as nìxíngzhě (逆行者), “the ones going against the tide.” This term, describing those who go beyond their call of duty, has been used by state media since early 2020 to refer to frontline workers and individuals who made a significant contribution or sacrifice during China’s initial battle against the novel coronavirus (see 2020 Top 10 Buzzwords in China).

An important method used to contain the spreading wildfires in Chongqing is ‘fighting fire with fire.’ With the help of all the people at the scene, Chinese specialized teams used controlled fires to prevent more forest fires by burning the fuel that could feed another fire. People’s Daily dedicated a Weibo hashtag page to this special and sometimes risky tactic of controlled burning (“以火灭火”) (#重庆北碚山火中的反向点火战术#). According to Chinese media, this fire fighting tactic played a decisive role in containing the fire.

Screenshot via Douyin showing firefighters having ice cream after their hard work.

Videos circulating on Weibo showed how drained some local firefighters were after containing the fires in the stifling heat, dealing with heat stroke and exhaustion.

“I don’t know what else to say, thank you,” some commenters wrote, with others saluting Chongqing’s heroes (“致敬英雄”).

Many people expressed pride in how the wildfires in Chongqing were handled, drawing comparisons with forest fires in Australia and other countries.

One Hunan-based Weibo user wrote:

“Compared to last year’s mountain fires in Australia which burned for nearly two months, and the July 30 fire in America’s California that saw local people fleeing and leaving, the fires in Chongqing showed us the power of the Chinese people. People spontaneously donated money and goods, and young people rushed to the frontline. It reminded me of the major flood efforts in ’98, how prepared for battle the white clothes workers were during the Covid outbreak in Wuhan, the subway rescue scene that happened in Zhengzhou last year. It makes my eyes tear up. This power comes from the love for the homeland that is rooted in the bones and blood of all Chinese people, this is the benevolent ‘all for one, one for all’ power of the Chinese people.”

On Friday afternoon and evening, firefighters and officers returning from the mountain were welcomed by groups of locals applauding them, waving flags, and offering them bottles of water and lemonade. These scenes were shared by official media channels on Weibo and beyond.

Although the narrative of the movie-like Chongqing battle against the fire is largely directed by state media propaganda on Chinese social media, many netizens join in the online celebration of this positive outcome of a difficult firefight. At a time of zero-Covid, power cuts, and scorching heat, it seems that many people are glad to see a happy ending to an otherwise devastating natural disaster.

“The fire is finally out,” one Weibo user wrote: “Front-line troops, firefighters, veterans, people of Chongqing, you are heroes, thank you for your great work!”

The past 48 hours have been incredibly intense for those in Chongqing's Beibei District, where thousands of people joined the fight against the wildfires on Thursday. pic.twitter.com/nvuntFogAB

— Manya Koetse (@manyapan) August 26, 2022

By Manya Koetse 

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