Invited by his friend Li Yuzhao, who works at the station, to sing a song for the first day of the Spring Festival travel rush on Jan 10, Gurure began to take part in volunteer work at the station to experience the largest human migration on the planet.

However, the novel coronavirus outbreak in China began in tandem with the Lunar New Year, with many parts of the country going under quarantine in hopes of stemming the spread of the disease.

With the number of novel coronavirus cases continuing to rise both in and outside of China, Gurure's family back in South Africa was very worried about his health, and hoped he would quit the volunteer job.

"I told my parents China has taken a lot of strong quarantine measures and is actually safe," he said. "I want to do whatever I can to prevent the spread of the infection. The country took really good care of me during the last three years. Now it's my turn."