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July 22, 2024

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Home » City specials » Hangzhou

Students brew new life into seniors’ tea stalls

By Wu Huixin | 00:00 UTC+8 July 22, 2024 | Print Edition

On sweltering days, anyone passing by the 12 tea stalls in Xiaoying Subdistrict can enjoy a free cup of tea, served by senior and child volunteers. This cherished tradition has been upheld each summer for the past 47 years.

Previously, senior volunteers would set up tables and brew tea for passersby. This year, primary school students from the neighborhood have joined in to assist their elders.

“The high temperatures won’t affect us,” said Qian Jiayi from Xiaoying Lane Primary School. “Seeing people’s smiling faces on scorching days made me feel fulfilled as I offered them refreshing tea.”

The tea stall was initiated by Gu Zhonggen, who passed away in 2021 at the age of 87. Since then, volunteers from Xiaoying Subdistrict have continued and expanded this tradition annually.

Forty-seven years ago, the stall was a simple setup consisting of just a tea bucket and a table. Today, the 12 stalls boast a unified visual identity and service uniforms.

This summer, over 500 children signed up as volunteers. The stall established in Deshou Palace has been the most popular among the visitors.

Beat the heat

The Deshou Palace reopened in 2022 following a two-year restoration. It was the palace where Emperor Gaozong (1107-1187) and Emperor Xiaozong (1127-1194) of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1279) lived after their retirements. Volunteers set up a tea stall beside the wanghong (Internet sensation) red wall of the palace, to help visitors beat the heat.

Hangzhou is renowned across China as a “furnace city,” with temperatures consistently hovering around 37 degrees Celsius during the peak summer months of July and August. On such sweltering days, nothing provides relief quite like a refreshing cup of cool tea.

Another tea stall in Zhalongkou Subdistrict is also well-known in Hangzhou. 81-year-old Wang Huiling is in her 22nd year of serving at the tea stall.

Every morning at 7am, she and other volunteers set up tables and make tea for passing pedestrians. They work in shifts and have been operating the tea stalls for decades.

Volunteers would provide glasses rather than disposable cups to save resources, but it’s recommended that people bring their own bottles.

Local seniors use their own recipes to brew the herbal tea, usually including chrysanthemum, honeysuckle, mulberry leaves, lotus flowers and green tea. These herbs are commonly used in traditional Chinese medicine to stave off internal heat and stimulate fluids.

Some of the older volunteers help operate the tea stalls throughout the high-temperature summer months. However, they are concerned about the future of the tea stall, as advancing age may soon prevent them from continuing their work.

Fresh energy has been infused into the operation with around 30 students from Zhijiang College of Zhejiang University of Technology stepping in to support the outdoor tea stall this summer.

Many residents and organizations have donated money. A warm-hearted resident donated a sterilizing cabinet. With help from neighbors, the facilities for making and serving tea also gradually improved.

In addition, other tea stalls have begun offering free tea at picturesque locations. At the gate of the Breeze-ruffled Lotus at Quyuan Garden, freshly brewed lotus leaf tea is available.

Nestled in the northwest of the West Lake, the park has 10 lotus ponds of various sizes and shapes, featuring dozens of species of lotus.

TCM practitioners believe the body’s inner heat can become excessive during the summer months and needs to be alleviated. Lotus leaves are considered one of the simplest and most effective ingredients for cooling down the inner yang, or hot energy.

Free tea is also offered at the one-hectare lawn in Orioles Singing in the Willows Park. Another tea stall is located opposite to the Jingci Temple.

Hangzhou


 

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