On the evening of June 4, 2026, a golden retriever fell into Dongfeng Canal near Chengdu University of Technology. A delivery rider, a barefoot young woman, people on the bridge, and others nearby worked together to bring the dog back from the water. One interviewee later said the rescue had no hierarchy: it was completed by a group of people in relay.

Dongfeng Canal near Chengdu University of Technology, Chenghua District, Chengdu, Sichuan, China

At dusk, voices gathered by the canal

On June 4, near Chengdu University of Technology, an ordinary evening was interrupted by the sight of a golden retriever in Dongfeng Canal. People on the bank and bridge quickly gathered. Some shouted, some looked for a way down, and some watched the current. The strangers did not need introductions; the urgent thing in front of them was clear.

Reports and scene images show that the canal slope was steep. This was not a simple reach-and-pull rescue. A delivery rider in yellow approached the canal edge, people above leaned down to help, and a young woman later joined barefoot. The scene was not orderly in a formal sense, but a temporary order formed: whoever could move closer did so, whoever could support did so, and whoever could receive the dog from above stayed ready.

Not one person’s hero moment

Rescue stories are often compressed into one brave figure, but this one was more like a relay. Reports said delivery rider Li Yao took part, and the young woman later identified as Lizi also went down to help. In an interview, she returned the credit to everyone: there was no higher or lower role in the rescue; it was finished by a group of people.

That sentence gives the story its proper center. The golden retriever was not saved by one spotlight, but by a chain of ordinary actions: someone noticed, someone stopped, someone went close to the water, someone pulled, someone steadied from above, and someone recorded what happened. None of these actions had to be grand. Missing any one of them, the outcome might have changed.

The barefoot young woman and the dog being held up

Lizi later said that rescuing the dog was simply the right thing to do. The plainness of that answer is part of the story’s warmth. She did not place herself in a heroic pose; she treated that moment as what people should do when a life is in danger. Going down barefoot was not for a dramatic image. It was to give the dog one more chance to come back up.

In the images, the golden retriever is held near the canal edge, wet and close to the bank. We do not need to invent fear or gratitude for the dog. What matters is that, at that evening moment, the animal was not treated as a nuisance. It was treated as a life worth bringing back.

After the dog reached shore

Later images showed the dog away from the water, while people checked whether it was all right. This is where many animal stories find their real turn: the danger is not romanticized, and the rescue is not inflated into legend. It is simply a good thing done by concrete people in a concrete place.

This archive records the story because it shows a precious side of coexistence between humans and animals. Kindness is not always a grand declaration. Sometimes it is one step off the way home, one hand extended from a bridge, and the humility to say afterward that it was not done alone. When the golden retriever left Dongfeng Canal, it also left Chengdu with a small public memory of tenderness.

Timeline

• Evening of 2026-06-04 A golden retriever fell into Dongfeng Canal near Chengdu University of Technology, and passers-by, a delivery rider, and a young woman joined the rescue.
• 2026-06-07 Red Star News and other media reported the rescue and looked for the young woman who helped.
• 2026-06-12 An interview with the young woman said the rescue had no hierarchy and was completed by a group in relay.

Public Sources

• Red Star News via Tencent News: people in Chengdu worked together to rescue a golden retriever that fell into Dongfeng Canal
• Red Star News via Tencent News: interview with the barefoot young woman who helped rescue the golden retriever
• Sohu repost: Chengdu Dongfeng Canal rescue of a golden retriever
• Sohu repost: interview with the young woman who helped rescue the golden retriever