The Angel of the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge

The Chinese city of Nanjing is home to about 9.3 million people, making it the 13th most populous city in the country. It’s located in the eastern part of China (here’s a map) and straddles the Yangtze River. Like most cities with a river that runs through it, Nanjing is home to a few bridges, with the Nanjing Yangtze River Bridge (above) perhaps the most notable. Unfortunately, this bridge holds a dubious distinction: it is often cited as the home to the most suicide attempts anywhere on the planet.

Which is why Chen Si, pictured below with the bridge in the background, is widely considered a hero.

In 2000, Chen, then age 22, was walking across the bridge, not thinking much about the bridge or its dubious place in history. But as the Bangkok Post reported, his life changed that day: “he spotted a woman — a young migrant worker like himself — on the edge, 70 meters (230 feet) above the water, crying and contemplating jumping. After he stopped to talk, the woman climbed down and Chen realized he may inadvertently have saved a life.” And he must have felt a great deal of pride from that accidental good deed, because for the two-plus decades since, Chen has been returning to the bridge to help others in distress.

As NPR reported in 2008, Chen has spent most of his weekends traversing the bridge, “seeking out the despairing and the depressed to stop them from throwing themselves over the bridge.” Identifying those in need was a skill he developed quickly; per a New York Times article, ‘”It is very easy to recognize,’ he said of potential jumpers. ‘A person walks without spirit.’” He approaches those he deems at risk and talks to them, showing them that someone indeed cares and is willing to help. He’s not always successful — he has, unfortunately, witnessed people jump — but he always tries, and often with good results. NPR relays one such success story:

As Chen patrols the bridge on his motorbike, a lone figure suddenly catches his eye. It’s a skinny, hunched twenty-something man in dirty clothes carrying a plastic bag.

“I can see your mood’s not right,” Chen says to the young man. “What’s the matter?”

The man tells Chen that he has nowhere to go. He traveled more than a thousand miles to find work but he lost his identity card and can’t find a job.

“Give me some time,” Chen says. “I’ll think of something.”

And more often than not, the people he comes across does, in fact, give Chen the time to help. At times, Chen will bring the people he’s trying to help home with him, to join in a meal with a friendly face or two. When one would-be jumper told him that she was depressed because she didn’t have the money to pay her university tuition, Chen, a transportation manager with limited means, helped her raise the 10,000 yuan ($1,400) she needed. And he’s also used this own money to help people facing homelessness rent an apartment. His work, he told the press, doesn’t end on the bridge — because some people will just return to the bridge if the underlying issues aren’t addressed.

And those who aren’t persuaded by Chen’s outreach? He doesn’t give up on them, either. As the South China Morning Post reported, “he has also pulled people back from the edge and assisted in rescuing those who have already jumped into the river.”

As of July 2024, Chen has saved an estimated 469 people. In 2015, he was the subject of a documentary filmmaker who dubbed him the “Angel of Nanjing,” a title well deserved.