Women who shine in all walks of life

Editor's note: As International Women's Day is celebrated, we are proud to present the stories of eight extraordinary women who excel in various fields. Through their hard work, intelligence, and leadership, these role models not only make significant contributions to their respective industries but also serve as guiding lights for future generations.

Bai Hua, rural veterinarian, Ningxia Hui autonomous region

Bai Hua, a veterinarian from Guyuan, Ningxia Hui autonomous region, breaks occupational stereotypes to impress and inspire many youngsters with her unusual story.

Bai always wears a pink jacket and gloves and carries a pink medicine box and stethoscope while dealing with sick animals in cowsheds and sheep pens, earning the nickname the "Pink Vet".

"Pink represents my passion for my profession and my love for animals. I want to convey my positive attitude towards my career and life through this vibrant color," she said.

Despite weighing only 44.5 kilograms, she can independently lift calves weighing 40 to 45 kg. She even had a nickname, "Bai Yi Zhen," which means "one shot, accurate and to the point". She performs surgeries on cows, assists with deliveries and trims their hooves.

Bai shared her daily work and medical knowledge on social media as a move to show the fun of her work and to encourage more young people to join the veterinary industry.

Yu Jing, expressway toll collector, Anhui province

Yu Jing, 27, an expressway toll collector in Anqing, Anhui province, said she was proud of all the friendly smiles she had shared over the past six years, even though people seldom knew her name. She said she feels the smiles made a difference.

Yu leans out the window of her booth to take a toll card handed up by a driver. She states the toll sum, takes cash or guides a driver making a mobile payment. As she returns the invoice, she wishes every driver a happy journey and life.

During her eight-hour daily work shift, Yu keeps smiling as long as drivers can see her face.

The simple smile effectively improves travelers' experience, reducing conflicts and even accidents.

"Working in our small booths, each of us may encounter hundreds or thousands of people every day," Yu said. "If smiling were not a must, we might find ourselves displaying negative emotions sometimes, and it would be sad to make customers feel bad."

Instead, many drivers now greet her in a friendly way, sometimes praising her professionalism with a compliment or thumbs-up, she said. The positive feelings go both ways. "I become happier when I know the drivers are happy," she added.

Yu Jing, expressway toll collector, Anhui province

Yu Jing, 27, an expressway toll collector in Anqing, Anhui province, said she was proud of all the friendly smiles she had shared over the past six years, even though people seldom knew her name. She said she feels the smiles made a difference.

Yu leans out the window of her booth to take a toll card handed up by a driver. She states the toll sum, takes cash or guides a driver making a mobile payment. As she returns the invoice, she wishes every driver a happy journey and life.

During her eight-hour daily work shift, Yu keeps smiling as long as drivers can see her face.

The simple smile effectively improves travelers' experience, reducing conflicts and even accidents.

"Working in our small booths, each of us may encounter hundreds or thousands of people every day," Yu said. "If smiling were not a must, we might find ourselves displaying negative emotions sometimes, and it would be sad to make customers feel bad."

Instead, many drivers now greet her in a friendly way, sometimes praising her professionalism with a compliment or thumbs-up, she said. The positive feelings go both ways. "I become happier when I know the drivers are happy," she added.

Meng Ermei, Party secretary of Luopoling community, Beijing

"As long as we still have a bite to eat, we'll leave it to the strained passengers." The firm promise made by Meng Ermei, Party secretary of the Luopoling community, Mentougou district of Beijing, has moved many people when a whole train of passengers got stuck near her community due to a massive rainstorm in July 2023.

Then, power and water in Luopoling had been cut off as a result of strong rains. Not only that, the train K396 carrying about a thousand passengers was stranded and forced to stop at Luopoling train station, facing food and water shortages, signal interruptions, power outages and other difficulties.

Meng stood up to the urgent situation. She made quick and meticulous response to transfer and settle the strained passengers, mobilizing the local residents door by door to offer a helping hand, such as dry clothes, free food and places to rest.

Under her leadership and arrangement, all strained passengers were transferred to the community safely amid continuous rain and received good care there, which is home to about 300 residents, most of which are elderly people.

Meng has served her community for 23 years and is considered as the most reliable and trustworthy grassroots official by the residents.

Dong Lina, content creator, Liaoning province

Dong Lina, 40-year-old, is the first visually impaired person in China to get a master's degree in radio and television broadcasting.

Born into a farming family in Dalian, Liaoning province, Dong was diagnosed with congenital amblyopia and lost her sight at the age of 10 but she never stopped pursuing her education, even during the three years she worked as a masseuse after graduating from secondary school.

Dong started her full-time master's candidate journey at Communication University of China in 2020. By using accessibility technology provided, such as Braille test papers and electronic documents, Dong read tens of thousands of pages in Chinese and English using screen reading software, conducted interviews with visually impaired people, and screened around 100 accessible movies to complete her 60,000-word thesis.

Dong made a speech at the university as the representative of the 2023 graduating class. Later, she became a freelancer, who manages her own accounts on social media. "I also want to do more creative things to communicate with other people, and create more resonance," she said.

Subinur Ahat, chemical technician, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region

Subinur Ahat chose to work at Karamay Petrochemical Co in her hometown of Karamay, Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, after graduating from China University of Petroleum in Beijing. Over the past seven years, she has been promoted despite fierce competition in an industry often regarded as unsuitable for women.

To ensure safety standards, the company's oil refining equipment is closely monitored 24 hours a day. For the first four years of her job, Subinur patrolled late at night to check whether pipelines and instruments were functioning properly.

Sometimes she had to climb 10 meters in freezing conditions to inspect equipment with a flashlight. On other occasions she had to figure out a quick solution to problems while protecting herself from hazards such as toxic fumes, fire or explosions.

Her position requires her to act quickly and offer solutions to problems within five minutes.

"Though there is more stress at work, I feel a great sense of achievement. Every time I see black crude oil turn into clear, clean, pure oil, I feel that my work to maintain stable and safe production has great meaning," she said.

At the age of 32, Subinur Ahat became one of the youngest female chemical technicians at her company. Last year, she was elected a deputy to Xinjiang People's Congress. She was surprised but honored.

Zhang Jinyuan, retired nurse/volunteer, Jiangxi province

Zhang Jinyuan graduated from a nursing college in Nanchang, Jiangxi province, and started practicing nursing at a local hospital around the same time the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949.

During her 45 years as a practicing clinical nurse, Zhang was committed to exploring and developing innovative nursing care tools and techniques, including changing bedsheets in a way that prevents raising dust, using a strap to help move heavy patients and creating a prototype device for sending alerts when intravenous infusions malfunction.

Zhang, now 95, still volunteers to visit and care for the elderly after her retirement and has no plans of stopping anytime soon.

"I want to keep working hard in my 100th year, and being able to work through to the age of 110 would be a dream come true for me," she said.

Last year, she received the 2023 International Achievement Award from the International Council of Nurses and the Florence Nightingale International Foundation, making her the first Chinese nurse to win the prestigious global award.

Baima Cuo, scholar, Xizang autonomous region

Baima Cuo, born in Nagchu in the northern Xizang Plateau, is an anthropologist whose primary research focus is on Tibetan herders.

Baima Cuo underwent thorough anthropological training right from undergraduate to doctoral studies. After obtaining her PhD in 2012, she delved into extensive and long-term field research in anthropology, aligning with the trajectory of her field.

"Foreign experts and scholars should come to Xizang to see for themselves. Only by truly witnessing it can one understand what the life of the Tibetan people is like and what they aspire to," Baima Cuo expressed her opinion about the misconceptions about her hometown.

Baima Cuo said her female identity has provided her with a distinctive and nuanced perspective. She highlighted the increasing involvement of Tibetan women in fields such as anthropology and other social sciences.

This year, as a deputy to the 14th National People's Congress, Baima Cuo has submitted several suggestions from field study, including solving the issue of continuing special education for disabled adolescents in the Xizang autonomous region and lowering the age line for elderly subsidies.

Chen Meiling, Mao Weihua, Hu Dongmei, Zhu Lixin, Chen Bowen, Zhang Xiaomin, Wang Xiaoyu and Zhao Manfeng contributed to the story.