Precious moments
Foreigners evacuated by China remembered the calm Chinese troops and Chinese diplomatic officers with blood-shot eyes and hoarse voices who helped them.
The dock was risky. A stray bullet hit a crane tower 20 meters from the front deck of the Chinese vessel. Xia Ping, Political Commissar of the escort task force, said to the evacuees, “Now we are in the same boat. This ship is a very reliable lifeline.” While lining up to board the frigate, Chinese nationals felt heartened to see the banners reading “Welcome aboard, Chinese compatriots” and ”Your motherland will take you home”.
Yang Changjiang, from Jiangzuo, Henan, had been contracted to the construction of Abidjan cement plant. On March 28, he and his colleagues rushed to Aden in a two-hour car ride. Continuous gunfire made everybody panic. Seeing the frigate with Chinese flag, they were moved to tears.
The sailors of the Weifang gave their bunks to the civilians and slept on the deck. Many people were moved to see them sleeping in the cold.
Thousands of pieces of luggage were piled in a small hill. The crew loaded all the bags, coding each one so everyone could easily claim their luggage when disembarking.
During the voyage from Hodeidah to Djibouti, some 750 kilograms of food was consumed in less than 24 hours. The kitchen squad all pitched in to work.
Almost a month had passed since the Weifang anchored for supplies. To cope with the food shortage, the crew volunteered to cut each meal from five dishes and one soup to two dishes only.
There was only one mess room in the frigate. The kitchen squad had to work 14 hours a day, as the evacuees were divided into nine groups to dine successively for each meal.
The kitchen squad took out 60 sets of tableware from the store, as well as two new pots, frying pans and a soup pot to serve halal food separately for the 60 Muslims aboard.
