Gu's cart before and after decoration

On July 17, the first day of sanfu, known as one of the hottest periods of the year, a greenish cart described as “the most beautiful herbal tea cart” once again appeared in a local neighborhood of Hangzhou, Zhejiang province.

This cart belongs to an octogenarian called Gu Zhonggen. The whole neighborhood knows him well, as this is the 41st year that Gu has been giving out herbal tea here for free. This little tea cart, which has been passed down over three generations, regardless of weather or temperature, always appears near an alleyway between 10:00 a.m.and 3:30 p.m.at this time of the year, handing out refreshments to thirsty pedestrians.

This year, thanks to the help of a team of students from the China Academy of Art, Gu’s little herbal tea cart has received a brand-new look. Sun Nan, the student who was the first to hear of Gu’s story, said that she was deeply touched by his kindness, and her team members, who were also moved by his story, hoped to utilize their design skills to give Gu a hand. Xu Xi,the team leader of the project, said, “although the workload of designing and furnishing is intense, requiring tons of time and energy, we do not feel tired at all. All of us are trying our best”.

Gu’s original tea booth was only a small double decker cart with an enamel tea mug. Without much decoration, the stall looked pretty easy to redesign, but in fact it was a big challenge for these students. Finding that the cart was difficult to move around, the students fell back on their creative nature; they installed a bicycle handlebar on to the cart, making it much easier to move and even leaving the cart a little bell. To ensure the cart has a stable structure, they also reinforced it with a waterproof PVC cover board.

The next thing they needed to redesignwas the enamel tea mug itself. Students bought Gu two new ones. They spent a lot of time designing the mugs to retain their retro look. After discussion, thestudents chose a dark shade of green as the main color which suited the tone of the whole cart; and they even designed numerous versions of the single character “cha”, meaning tea,before the final version was selected to be painted onto the mugs.

Gu and the students who helped him

The recipe for Gu’s herbal tea has been passed down from his ancestors. The refreshing flavor is delightful, and it’s not unusual for people to stop by and ask for the recipe. Having learned of its popularity, the students chose to write the recipe down on a hand-made folding board so people could easily try to make Gu’s famous tea at home. These kind students even installed a cup holder on the corner of the cart, as it’s no longer so easy for Gu, who is now in his 80s, to serve tea to every passer-by.

An act of kindness, even in a seemingly trivial fashion, shows great love. The volunteers from the China Academy of Art said that refurbishing the herbal tea cart was to serve more people, helping them to enjoy a cold treat under the scorching sun. Xu Xi said, “the design was not only for the people, but also for the society, this is what our professor hoped us to achieve and also what we are trying our best to achieve.”