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Dripping Water Tea Catches Heart of Beijingers
Translated by Luke Zhou
Source: Beijing Youth News May 2, 2002 |
Mother and son both want to donate their piano. |
Yesterday, our report on Dripping Water Elementary's sale of tea to
pay for tuition intrigued many Beijingers. Many moving scenes of compassion
and kindness were witnessed at the Temple of Earth, where the tea
was being sold.
An Elderly Couple Anonymously Donates Books
At around 11 AM yesterday, a retired couple visited the tea stand
but left quickly. 15 minutes later, they returned carrying three stacks
of books and donated them to the Dripping Water Elementary. They came
back again and this time, they were hauling three sets of "The
Four Classics". Their only words were, "We hope that you
will study hard and read as much as you can." When reporters
asked for their names, they left rapidly covering their faces so no
photographs could be taken.
A Three Year Old Girl Buys 120 Worth of Tea
"Brother, here's money, I'll buy tea!" Yesterday afternoon,
a three year old girl clutching a twenty-dollar bill uttered these
words to Chen Huijie, who was selling tea. As small as she was, she
raised the twenty over her head and thanked Chen. When reporters asked
her why she bought so much tea, she pointed out her grandma and said
that it was Granny's order. After a few minutes, the same girl was
clutching another 100-dollar bill. "Brother, may I have more
tea please." |
Niuniu (the 3-year old) came to buy tea. |
A Young Man Carries Four Stacks of Books
Tao Fu is a name that a 1.8-meter tall young man reluctantly left
for us at yesterday's book fair. After such hesitation, we are still
suspicious that Tao Fu is an alias. When he first came, he spent 100
dollars on five bags of tea, but when he later returned he was carrying
two stacks of books. They turned out to be two illustrated sets of
"The Four Classics" that he left in a failed anonymous attempt.
He returned for a third time carrying 5000 Years of China's History
and The Youth's Encyclopedia. In addition he took out RMB200 and purchased
10 more bags of Dripping Water Tea.
A Man Donates a Mandolin After Visiting Six Times
Wang Zhigang of the Department of Foreign Trade Institute visited
the tea stand more than anyone other consumer has. In fact, he has
come six times. Not only has he come to buy tea, for when he read
in our article that one of the students, Yang Xiao Juan, is really
into music, he decided to donate the family mandolin to Xiao Juan.
He decided that still was not enough and later brought the students
food, water, soda, and dumplings.
A Sympathetic Family Donates Their Piano
Yesterday morning, we received a phone call from a sympathetic mother.
She wanted to donate her piano to the children at Dripping Water Elementary
so they could "enjoy music and sing along to their favorite songs."
Ms. Qin she was very moved by yesterday's column on Dripping Water
Elementary's sale of tea to raise money for tuition. She quickly called
her husband and son who were playing tennis at the time and took them
to the book fair to visit these children. Her 6th grade son Wang Yufei
rejoiced at the news and quickly followed his parents to the tea stand.
At around 1 PM, Yufei brought home five bags of tea and told his mother
about the tea selling brothers and sisters. "To earn money for
tuition, they have to stand outside and sell tea in such a hot day¡it's
not easy." Ms. Qin was proud of her son's understanding. However,
she was even more surprised when Yufei suggested that the piano be
donated to them. She was extremely touched and immediately called
us to arrange the donation.
"My son had been playing piano since he was 9. Two years ago,
I managed to earn enough money to buy a piano for RMB13,000. Yufei
was a hard worker and a diligent pianist. Despite the injuries to
his fingers that he sometimes suffered, he never quit and kept on
practicing. However, when he was 10, his interests began to change.
He began to enjoy the saxophone, which he took up immediately. Since
then, the piano was idle. Although Yufei is going to miss the piano,
he feels it is best for it to be put to use," explained Ms. Qin.
"Now it is only one person's piano, but at Dripping Water Elementary,
it will belong to 57 different students," said Yufei.
Principal Concerned About Needy Students
According to Dripping Water Elementary's Principal Zhang, they came
during school vacation to help raise enough money for the needy children's
tuition. The three students that he brought along were among the well-to-do
families. The needy children were unable to come because they were
doing farm work back home.
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