A 74-YEAR-OLD man from Hunan Province has removed more than 400,000 illegal advertisement stickers in Shenzhen, wherever he s seen them, since 2002.
A retired mathematics teacher, Yang Qiulin took to the streets every day to remove the illegal sticker ads with his three precious tools: a cleaning cloth, a fruit knife and a plastic bucket, Shenzhen Special Zone Daily reported yesterday.
Yang saw a variety of illegal sticker ads on Xin an Footbridge in Bao an District on a spring day in 2002, which prompted him to start his cleaning campaign.
Yang s cleaning act received support from his family, including his children and grandchild, who took time to join him in removing the illegal sticker ads.
His daughter put up a banner on Xin an Footbridge to call for a public effort to remove the sticker ads, which she saw as an eyesore.
Despite the family s support, Yang still needed to brave unexpected difficulties.
The advertisers themselves used to target him by stealing his bike, the paper said.
What s worse, some people even warned him not to remove the illegal ads, and accompanied this with threats of violence.
However, Yang was determined on his cleaning way.
The law enforcement officers with the urban management bureau in Bao an took more than 10 bags of sticker ads from Yang s home for disposal each year.
In addition to the sticker removal, and in keeping with his principals, Yang was also actively involved in persuading people to refrain from uncivilized behavior.
He was selected as the city s outstanding volunteer and received awards for his model role. (Li Hao)
