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Sanitation workers in Hangzhou mourn their free-noodle friend

Xinhua | Updated: 2018-12-28 08:02
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A server offers noodles to sanitation workers in Zhang Chengliang's restaurant in Hangzhou, in the early morning of New Year's Day in 2016. [Photo by Lin Yunlong/Provided to China Daily]

HANGZHOU-After news of Zhang Chengliang's death was announced this week, sanitation workers in Hangzhou, Zhejiang province, were in a sorrowful mood.

Zhang was the owner of a noodle restaurant that for the past five years has offered sanitation workers more than 53,000 free bowls of noodles for breakfast during the coldest months of the year.

Zhang died of an illness at the age of 57 last month, according to an obituary circulated widely on China's social media platform WeChat.

"I couldn't believe it," said Meng Yanjuan, a local sanitation worker. She recalled the last time she ate in Zhang's restaurant-a bowl of noodles with shredded meat and a spicy corned egg.

"Zhang wouldn't take money from me. It was freezing outside, but my heart was warmed," Meng said.

As a migrant worker, she often gets up early in the morning and stands at the roadside to eat cold steamed stuffed buns or some bread for breakfast.

Zhang's noodle restaurant opened in June 2013 and is a five-minute walk from the railway station. On its window hangs a bulletin board reading: "When you face difficulties, you can have a free bowl of steaming hot noodles here." He even promised to donate 1 yuan from each bowl of noodles he sold.

"Sanitation workers make our city more beautiful. They deserve our respect," Zhang said earlier. "Sometimes they were too shy to enter my restaurant. We would take the initiative to invite them."

Another sanitation worker, Feng Yun, came to Hangzhou nine years ago. During the last Spring Festival holiday, she had to work and didn't return to her hometown in neighboring Jiangsu province. The noodle restaurant was the only place open on the whole street.

"I got free noodles, and the boss was very kind. I heard about his death. What a pity," Feng said, adding the restaurant was a shelter for sanitation workers where they could enjoy the air conditioning in summer and drink hot water in winter.

Over the years the restaurant has attracted hundreds of volunteers who helped boil noodles and serve customers. Inspired by him, people at home and abroad have donated eggs, noodles and ginger tea. He published the details of donations on a regular basis.

Zhang was born into a poor family. His father died when he was a child. With the help of his neighbors, he and his mother managed to eat.

"My neighbors also faced difficult times, but they offered their food to me," he once told the media. "Now that I have some money, I also want to help others. Everyone has tough times, especially migrants."

Zhang's charitable endeavor started in 1995. He provided financial aid to 175 poor students, raised funds to build a primary school in mountainous Guizhou province and went to Somalia to donate medical equipment, drugs and other necessities for hospitals.

Even though he poured his heart into charity work and operated a noodle restaurant and a rice restaurant, his love for his family never slackened.

On the second floor of the rice restaurant are a few photos of Zhang and his mother.

From the Potala Palace to the slums in Kenya and the White House in the United States, he spent 10 years taking his mother on trips. That had been his father's unfulfilled dream.

He set up a mailbox in the rice restaurant, offering customers free paper, envelopes and stamps, and encouraged them to write letters to their parents while waiting for their food.

"If I did what Zhang did for one day or one month, I think I could handle it. But for five years, I think it's very difficult," said web user "Tufeifei".

Zhang said what counts is not how much money you can donate but how many people you can inspire to join the public benefit programs.

"A person may not be able to change the world. But a cup of water or a bowl of noodles can at least warm the heart of a stranger," Zhang once said.

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