Coffee shop with a difference helps rural children

Jian Chuntian runs a coffee shop in Xi'an, Shaanxi province, that is helping him realize his dream of helping poor rural children.

His method is a little different - he gives free ice creams to those who donate items such as clothes and toys, which he sends to children in poverty stricken areas.

Jian, who used to work for a health and education NGO, started his shop in 2016. From the day it opened, he made it a policy to encourage people to help those in need in more interesting ways.

In three years, the 35-year-old has received more than 15,000 toys and sent them to poor villages in counties like Tongguan and Shanyang in Shaanxi.

"When I was a volunteer teacher in rural areas, I found that many children there didn't lack facilities like desks and chairs or pens, instead they needed company and something to play with," he said.

"The toy donation project is environmentally friendly and can bring rural children happiness. Also, urban children who donate toys can also find it interesting because they get their favorite ice cream as a reward."

Since Jian's shop is close to two primary schools, students regularly visit it after school to play or do their homework. Sometimes, they want to eat ice cream but have no money or used toys to exchange.

So Jian came up with another idea - offering ice cream in exchange for cigarette butts collected by the children. Twenty cigarette butts earn one ice cream and Jian estimates the children have picked up about 50,000 butts in the past three years.

"I hope that one day, when they grow up, they can still remember that they earned themselves an ice cream by picking up trash one summer, which was meaningful and interesting," he said. "I want to arouse children's awareness of protecting the environment by doing this."

Jian worked for several NGOs from 2007, including China-Dolls Center for Rare Disorders in Beijing, Marie Stopes International China - which provides sexual and reproductive healthcare services - and Chunshan Education Foundation in Shaanxi, which focuses on rural education in Xi'an, the provincial capital.

In 2013, he quit his full-time job and tried to create his own brand to help the public and provide social services. After three years of seeking a suitable way to realize his vision, he started the coffee shop, which he named Lyulyu - green donkey in Chinese.

"When I was a child, I used to think that a donkey would turn green if it ate green grass all the time," Jian said. "The name reminds me of childhood."

He said that since the income from the coffee shop is not enough to live on, he also works as a part-time photographer.

"My current goal is to strike a balance between pursuing my dream and making money and use the money to support some of my fun ideas about social work," Jian said.

"Interesting ideas can sometimes give people who live a predictable life a surprise, just like children are happy to get ice cream as a reward for donating toys. These ideas can encourage more people to participate in these activities that can benefit the public."

He said that even though most people who just wanted to earn money viewed such loss-making activities or ideas as useless, he believes they are an important part of people's spiritual lives.

Jian used to sell cocktails at his coffee shop and allow customers to decide how much to pay. He said the uncertainty added fun to his life.

"I prefer to choose to do social work in a way that sounds like a fairy tale," he said. "I hope these things can influence more people to live a positive and interesting life and feel happy when helping others."