Tea booths help outdoor workers cool down

A sanitation worker enjoys water from a tea booth at the underpass on Rixin Street, Ningbo, Zhejiang province on July 12. [Photo/Ningbo Evening News]

A tea booth was recently set up at an underpass on Rixin Street in Ningbo, East China's Zhejiang province, serving workers who have to spend the day outside in the scorching heat, such as construction workers, traffic policemen, sanitation workers and delivery men.

It is the first tea booth to be put into use in the city by the Ningbo Urban Management Volunteer Association this summer, and comes equipped with a machine offering both boiling and warm drinking water. Various kinds of teabags are also provided.

The Ningbo Urban Management Volunteer Association launched the project in the summer of 2018. Over the past three years, they have collected donations worth more than 330,000 yuan ($51,026.98) from the public, allowing them to install 32 tea booths around the city and purchase drinks for the outdoor workers.

The tea booths are generally placed along the street, making them easy to find. To ensure the quality of the drinking water, staff from the association are responsible for the daily cleaning and maintenance of the booths.

Liu Yongjun, secretary-general of the Ningbo Urban Management Volunteer Association, said that a map showing the locations of the tea booths has been released, helping workers to find the nearest one.

"More than 40 tea booths are expected to be installed in the city by the end of this year," Liu said.