The Yellow River Soup Kitchen has been running for five years, and there is only one diner who has been with them all these years, a sweet old man with physical and mental disabilities. Many of the diners try to move on, and to find new ways to support themselves.

What impressed me the most at the Soup Kitchen dinners were the diners' congeniality and good manners. They showed a genuine concern for each other, helped with work around the kitchen, and when the food was ready, the healthier ones voluntarily queued for half an hour while the volunteers counted heads and served the weaker ones sitting at the tables first.

There was no chaos, no impatience, no attempt to jump the queue. It would make many of the well-fed and well-clad embarrassed if they compared it to their own behavior.

This shows the power of compassion. The Soup Kitchen's dinners did not start with such perfect order. But once people realized that the kitchen was here to stay and the volunteers truly cared for them, they started to care for the kitchen and reciprocate the kindness they received. The effects of charity and compassion might not be visible immediately, but they have a ripple effect.

The spirit of compassion is not new to China. The ancient Chinese philosopher Mencius (372-289 BC) once said, "Extend the respect for the aged in one's own family to that of other families; and extend the love for the young ones in one's own family to that of other families."

The art of benevolent giving is not a path to the moral high ground, nor is it a system of rewards. It is simply something we do to help others, as well as ourselves, so we can live in a better world.

The author is a Beijing-based freelance writer. viewpoint@globaltimes.com.cn