Canteen in Hangzhou provides healthy, cost-effective food to elderly citizens without increasing food prices for 15 years

A canteen in Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province has remained devoted to providing healthy and cost-effective food to elderly residents and all without increasing its food prices for the past 15 years. At the canteen, vegetable dishes are priced at 3 yuan ($0.4), and meat dishes are priced at between 6 and 10 yuan.

Elderly residents take their meals at the dining hall of a canteen in Lingyin neighborhood, Xihu district, Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)

"There are more than 6,200 elderly residents above the age of 70 years old in our neighborhood, accounting for 14.7 percent of the total population in the neighborhood, and 3,130 elderly residents above the age of 80, accounting for 7.5 percent of the total population in the neighborhood," said Liu Ying, a staff member at a local elderly care service office in Lingyin neighborhood, Xihu district, Hangzhou, where the canteen is located.

Liu added that the canteen can solve the challenges local elderly residents have encountered when looking for a place to eat.

Wang Jintu, 84 years old, is a loyal customer of the canteen. Wang has dined at the canteen almost every day since the canteen opened in 2007.

Wang Jintu and his friend eat at the canteen for elderly citizens in Lingyin neighborhood, Xihu district, Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)

"The sanitation conditions of the canteen are good, and the dishes are cooked in accordance with elderly people's food preferences," said Wang. "The canteen also provides food delivery services for elderly customers who have health issues for free," Wang added.

At least half of the canteen's customers are regular customers who started to frequent here around five years ago, and at least 100 people are die-hard fans of the canteens like Wang.

"We've stayed true to our original aspiration of making elderly citizens eat well here at our canteen," said Tang Zhaolun, manager of the canteen.

The canteen opens at 6 a.m. and closes at about 8 p.m. "We do not take a single day off throughout the year except during the Spring Festival," said Tang. In 2012, the dining area of the canteen was expanded in order to accommodate more people.

Photo shows nutritious food offered by the canteen located in Lingyin neighborhood, Xihu district, Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)

Some elderly customers have sent banners to the canteen to express their recognition of the considerate services provided by the canteen. The banners can be seen on a wall inside the canteen.

"One day, we realized that we hadn't seen an elderly customer around at the canteen for a long time and found that he had been hospitalized. Days later, his son called us, saying that his father wanted to eat our food, and then we cooked dishes for the old man and delivered the food to the hospital. Another elderly customer asked us whether we could provide food for his wife before he was going to the hospital to undergo surgery, and we said 'no problem' to him," Tang recalled.

Photo shows the exterior of the canteen located in Lingyin neighborhood, Xihu district, Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)

The canteen also sells food to non-elderly customers in order to earn enough profits to sustain its operations. The two groups of customers are accommodated in different dining areas inside the canteen, and in this way, a comfortable and quiet environment has been created for elderly diners.

The seventh population census in Zhejiang Province showed that in 2020, the population of people at the age of 60 and above in the province was nearly 12.1 million, accounting for 18.7 percent of the total population of the province.

Non-elderly customers pay for meals inside the dining hall of the canteen located in Lingyin neighborhood, Xihu district, Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)

To make sure elderly citizens live a happy and healthy life at an old age, the first step that should be taken is to guarantee that the elderly people eat well. Therefore, it is crucial that canteens dedicated to elderly citizens should be established to better satisfy elderly citizens' needs.

Photo shows the banners that some elderly customers presented to the canteen to express their grateful recognition of its considerate services. (People's Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)

Elderly people dine inside the canteen located in Lingyin neighborhood, Xihu district, Hangzhou city, east China's Zhejiang Province. (People's Daily Online/Fang Pengyimeng)