Visitors to China might end up paying the “foreigner price” when they want to buy something, but they also might get extra attention when they need some help.

The fire department in Meizhou, in Guangdong Province, was mobilized to help one American man pull a ring off his finger. This, only days after a foreigner collapsed on the Guangzhou metro and was given CPR from a concerned metro attendant.

It all happened on Thursday (March 14), when an American couple were touring Guangdong. The man’s finger began to swell, apparently for no reason, and his ring became unmovable. In quite some pain, he went to a hardware shop for help, then went to the hospital, but nobody was able to get the ring off successfully.

Finally, they turned to a group of firefighters. By now, the man’s finger was seriously swollen and the skin was beginning to fester. The firefighters had a close look at the situation, then pulled out some tools to secure his finger in place and cut through the ring to release it. After some nervous moments, it worked.

The American visitor wanted to pay for the rescue, but the firefighters all said no. He then gave them the thumbs up and said “thank you” in Chinese.