A notice at the hotel's entrance cautions the public to keep away and take precautions.[Photo provided to China Daily]

The hotel's chef Song Weidong also works every day from the early hours to prepare food for the special guests. Song lives close to the hotel and usually works 13 hours a day.

"He told me that he felt proud to be able to do something at a time like this," Ai says.

Ai is grateful to his employees. "None of them have complained about being tired."

At the moment, Ai's family is in Hainan province. He says it is better this way, so he can focus on what he is doing at the moment.

It's not the first time he has engaged in volunteer work. He has made donations to poor students in the past and raised money for migrant workers' children in Yantai, Shandong province. During his stay in Pakistan in 2018, he picked up trash in a Karachi park and donated daily necessities to the poor.

"I just wanted people to know that we Chinese care about the environment, too," Ai says. "The things we do might not be big, but we will do our best."

Ai has been paying the bills at his hotel for his special guests and he says everything can wait until the epidemic is over.

Speaking about his future plans, Ai says he will visit Wuhan when possible.

"I've visited Wuhan every two years or so, and it's been a great pleasure to catch up with friends and my teachers. We'll surely have a lot more to share after this critical time is over."

 

 

A notice at the hotel's entrance cautions the public to keep away and take precautions. CHINA DAILY

 

 

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