Editor's note: December 5 marks International Volunteer Day. In this episode of CGTN's "Come Together" series, we look at how volunteering helps people around the world share love and care.

"I'm a volunteer here in Lotus Lane in Houhai. I've lived in Beijing for 24 years and I'm from the United States. I'm 64 years old and I'm retired," said Terry Crossman. "I spend some of my time volunteering, helping tourists find their way around this beautiful area of Xicheng District in Beijing."

Crossman gives directions to tourists in fluent Chinese, but things were not easy for him when he started volunteering in March 2017, since he was unfamiliar with the surroundings.

Being a fluent Mandarin speaker and the only man in a volunteer group called "Aunties from Xicheng District," Crossman has gone viral online. Many tourists visit the lake Houhai just to have a photo taken with him.

"The spirit of volunteering is you get more than what you give in a way," Crossman told CGTN. "I love volunteering because I love doing things for people. I like to make people happy. I think by making people happy they make other people happy. It's like throwing a stone into the river and it has little waves and your happiness can be given to other people."

Volunteering is a sign of an advanced and civilized society. China's first regulation on volunteer services took effect in December 2017, clarifying the principles and establishing administrative institutions in this regard. According to the 2018 Statistical Report on the Development of Civil Affairs Undertakings in China, there are 129,000 voluntary community organizations nationwide and 10.72 million volunteers like Crossman have volunteered for 23.88 million hours.

Volunteers are serving the world beyond borders. Crossman helps out on the streets of China, and plenty of Chinese volunteers are making a difference in other parts of the world.

Zhan Weizhen was born in east China's Hangzhou but is now in Lebanon working with Syrian refugees.

Since 2011, the outbreak of the civil war has left millions of Syrians homeless, seeking refuge abroad. Among them, children have suffered the worst. The project, which Zhan has joined, was launched by the Peaceland Foundation and the Common Future Foundation in 2016. It aims to support Chinese youth volunteers who venture to the Middle East to lend a helping hand to Syrian refugees, especially teenagers and children.

Zhan is working on helping Hassan, a 24-year-old Syrian in Lebanon who wants to be a comedian. "He is working on that dream. At the moment, we teach him Chinese and English. And hopefully if he can really get to learn the two languages, he will gain more skills and become more competitive on the job market," said Zhan.

In recent years, with the increasing number of major international competitions and conferences held in China, volunteers are playing a vital part in facilitating events such as the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, the G20 Hangzhou Summit in 2016 and the 7th Military World Games in 2019.

"Nowadays, the Chinese government is also paying attention to the volunteer service," said Zhan. "The Belt and Road Initiative mentions people-to-people exchanges, which encourage volunteer work."