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Noodle shop gives community more than tasty food
By Wu Huixin |
July 8, 2013, Monday
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THE Chengliang Noodle Shop has been getting a lot of notice lately, and not just for its tasty noodles.
The shop is owned by a Hangzhou native who was a third-grade dropout but built a profitable real estate agent business. He opened the noodle shop at 209-1 Jianguo Road S. on June 24 with his earnings from the business.
What's different? Anyone who's hungry can get a bowl of noodles for free.
"I ask my employees not to ask why he or she doesn't have money, because that hurts people's dignity," said the owner, Zhang Chengliang, 50.
On the day the shop opened, a woman street cleaner surnamed Mou visited and said she forgot her money. The server offered her free noodles.
When other guests whispered about what they saw, Zhang explained that the policy was not only to help the poor but also for those who may have just forgotten their wallet.
Prices for most guests are in line with other noodle shops in the area - 11 yuan to 29 yuan (US$1.80-4.70).
Zhang spent 150,000 yuan to tastefully decorate the shop in Japanese minimalist wooden tables and chairs. The walls are covered in photos from his travels to 34 countries and regions.
Zhang said he got his "pay it forward" approach to helping others from hearing two years ago about new forms of charity work promoted by nongovernmental organizations.
He said "charity" is too grand a word, but his relatively small-scale efforts are just right, and possible for ordinary people to participate in. "If I help a man, he may be touched and lend a hand to others, and that promotes the public good, when it spreads from person to person," he said.
He said he's not worried that people will take advantage of his goodwill.
"I always believed in the beauty of human nature, so I didn't think freeloaders would queue up to eat free noodles," Zhang said.
He noted that a handicapped man who begs for a living at Hangzhou Railway Station, insisted on leaving 15 yuan for his bowl of noodles.
Zhang has expanded his efforts into small-scale fundraising using new media tools - a type of grassroots charity called "micro public good" that is growing in China.
Zhang promises to donate 1 yuan for each noodle bowl his shop sells. For the week that ended June 30, the shop sold 869 bowls, and Zhang said he would post details on Weibo.
He said he opened a bank account for the project, and donations and cash flow will be announced on Weibo to keep things transparent. The privacy of donors who don't want to be identified will be respected, he said.
Zhang said the spirit is spreading. Six of his eight staff members are volunteers, and retirees and others have offered to help or donate books.
A man contributed 100 yuan when he found out Zhang once aided 10 poor students in his hometown of Guizhou in southwest China.
College students are lending a hand. Zhu Min and two classmates, members of the Light of Prairie Fire Society of Zhejiang Gongshang University, are spending the summer helping Zhang update Weibo and record stories of goodwill from the noodle shop. Zhu said she is touched by Zhang's effort and hopes to continue to help him.
Zhang said the first thing he did with the donations was to pay for a dozen students from Jinfeng Township Primary School in Chun'an County, a rural area in the northern part of Hangzhou, to visit West Lake on Saturday. He said he planned to make up any difference if the donations fell short of paying for their transportation and accommodations.
Next, he hopes to give financial help to some poor students, he said.
Zhang said that while he isn't in the noodle business for money, he hopes it will become self-supporting. Rent costs him 10,000 yuan a month, and his two paid workers earn 6,000 yuan monthly, plus he covers social security and health insurance. He also rented a house for them at 2,600 yuan a month.
"My only wish is to make ends meet every month. If I could recover the cost of decor, it couldn't get any better," he said. "I would like to run a chain of 10 other shops in Hangzhou based on the theme of micro public good."
In the meantime, Zhang has even spread the spirit of public good overseas. In February, he went to Somalia to deliver 2,000 boxes of medicine. He said he was shocked by the dangerous and turbulent environment there.
"I feel lucky when I compare the life in Somalia to my domestic daily life. I will visit again and take more medicines, regardless of the danger," said Zhang.
"I am not a noble man," he said. "I just believe that love has no boundary."
The shop is owned by a Hangzhou native who was a third-grade dropout but built a profitable real estate agent business. He opened the noodle shop at 209-1 Jianguo Road S. on June 24 with his earnings from the business.
What's different? Anyone who's hungry can get a bowl of noodles for free.
"I ask my employees not to ask why he or she doesn't have money, because that hurts people's dignity," said the owner, Zhang Chengliang, 50.
On the day the shop opened, a woman street cleaner surnamed Mou visited and said she forgot her money. The server offered her free noodles.
When other guests whispered about what they saw, Zhang explained that the policy was not only to help the poor but also for those who may have just forgotten their wallet.
Prices for most guests are in line with other noodle shops in the area - 11 yuan to 29 yuan (US$1.80-4.70).
Zhang spent 150,000 yuan to tastefully decorate the shop in Japanese minimalist wooden tables and chairs. The walls are covered in photos from his travels to 34 countries and regions.
Zhang said he got his "pay it forward" approach to helping others from hearing two years ago about new forms of charity work promoted by nongovernmental organizations.
He said "charity" is too grand a word, but his relatively small-scale efforts are just right, and possible for ordinary people to participate in. "If I help a man, he may be touched and lend a hand to others, and that promotes the public good, when it spreads from person to person," he said.
He said he's not worried that people will take advantage of his goodwill.
"I always believed in the beauty of human nature, so I didn't think freeloaders would queue up to eat free noodles," Zhang said.
He noted that a handicapped man who begs for a living at Hangzhou Railway Station, insisted on leaving 15 yuan for his bowl of noodles.
Zhang has expanded his efforts into small-scale fundraising using new media tools - a type of grassroots charity called "micro public good" that is growing in China.
Zhang promises to donate 1 yuan for each noodle bowl his shop sells. For the week that ended June 30, the shop sold 869 bowls, and Zhang said he would post details on Weibo.
He said he opened a bank account for the project, and donations and cash flow will be announced on Weibo to keep things transparent. The privacy of donors who don't want to be identified will be respected, he said.
Zhang said the spirit is spreading. Six of his eight staff members are volunteers, and retirees and others have offered to help or donate books.
A man contributed 100 yuan when he found out Zhang once aided 10 poor students in his hometown of Guizhou in southwest China.
College students are lending a hand. Zhu Min and two classmates, members of the Light of Prairie Fire Society of Zhejiang Gongshang University, are spending the summer helping Zhang update Weibo and record stories of goodwill from the noodle shop. Zhu said she is touched by Zhang's effort and hopes to continue to help him.
Zhang said the first thing he did with the donations was to pay for a dozen students from Jinfeng Township Primary School in Chun'an County, a rural area in the northern part of Hangzhou, to visit West Lake on Saturday. He said he planned to make up any difference if the donations fell short of paying for their transportation and accommodations.
Next, he hopes to give financial help to some poor students, he said.
Zhang said that while he isn't in the noodle business for money, he hopes it will become self-supporting. Rent costs him 10,000 yuan a month, and his two paid workers earn 6,000 yuan monthly, plus he covers social security and health insurance. He also rented a house for them at 2,600 yuan a month.
"My only wish is to make ends meet every month. If I could recover the cost of decor, it couldn't get any better," he said. "I would like to run a chain of 10 other shops in Hangzhou based on the theme of micro public good."
In the meantime, Zhang has even spread the spirit of public good overseas. In February, he went to Somalia to deliver 2,000 boxes of medicine. He said he was shocked by the dangerous and turbulent environment there.
"I feel lucky when I compare the life in Somalia to my domestic daily life. I will visit again and take more medicines, regardless of the danger," said Zhang.
"I am not a noble man," he said. "I just believe that love has no boundary."
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