shop owners and customers on historic yuyuan road write letters of encouragement amid the novel coronavirus pneumonia outbreak.
store owners on yuyuan road show the encouraging messages they have received.
inspirational messages are being passed between shop owners and residents on shanghai's historic yuyuan road to cheer them up during the ongoing coronavirus outbreak.
over 500 cards with encouraging words have been distributed among the over 100 shops on the road in downtown changning district.
they were either written by customers or store operators to help restore the vitality of the once popular road.
"whenever i pass by your lantern store, i can feel the warmth from each lamp. i regard them as a gift in the cold winter," one customer wrote on a card to calex, a lantern store from the netherlands.
"life has sunshine and cloud, but your coffee can always bring us the passion to carry on," another customer wrote to akimbo, a cafe in the yuyuan department co.
"we are looking forward to more exhibitions in the su shanghai museum after the end of the epidemic," a resident wrote to the newly opened community museum which was renovated from an abandoned dormitory building in 2019.
the cards are part of a "safeguard yuyuan road" campaign initiated by shequgengxin and kai fun, two non-profit organizations.
the campaign aims to help store operators regain confidence while helping their businesses recover during the epidemic.
the 800-meter yuyuan road — which dates back to 1911 — runs through changning and jing’an districts.
it features well-preserved historical villas once home to big names such as missile and space scientist qian xuesen (1911-2009), writer, translator and scholar shi zhecun (1905-2003) and new zealand-born writer rewi alley (1897-1987), who came to shanghai in 1927 and was later involved in china’s revolution and reconstruction.
there are over 100 stores along the road after low-end and unlicensed businesses were shut down during a facelift campaign in recent years. they were popular among both residents and tourists from both home and abroad before the coronavirus epidemic.
encouragement cards feature cheerful remarks and images reminding customers to stay a safe distance apart. they are displayed in the stores for customers to add their good wishes.
due to the epidemic, most of the stores, especially eateries, have seen a sharp decline in customer numbers. one restaurant had just a single customer a day after reopening in early february.
"the cafe was always full before, but now we've reduced the seats by two-thirds to make customers feel safe," said a wang, boss of the akimbo cafe.
li li, of the calex lantern store, said it was popular after it opened in august last year, but now she had to reconsider its future due to its gloomy business amid the epidemic.
the cheer-up campaign began spontaneously in early february after some customers left inspiring messages to restaurants and cafes when ordering deliveries, said xu yinlan, general manager of the branding center of creater, the firm in charge of revamping the area and owner of the shequgengxin organization.
for instance, a customer wrote "this is my first cup of coffee after returning to work, let's both work hard," xu said.
inspired, xu led staff and volunteers with the organizations to collect wishes and greetings from customers and make them into cards for the store owners.
the cards feature cheerful remarks and images reminding them to keep a safe distance between customers for epidemic prevention. they are displayed in the stores for customers to write down additional good wishes. the store owners also deliver encouraging words to their neighbors and counterparts.
chen yingda, once a frequent customer at a crayfish restaurant that remains closed, wrote: "my dear crayfish eatery, wish you can return safely soon." chen works for a nearby company and had eaten lunch and dinner at the restaurant for three years.
store owners on yuyuan road display the letters of encouragement they have received from customers and neighbors.
'hang in there'
leo huang, founder of "slowww melt," a popular chocolate workshop and cafe, wrote: "in this dark period, hang in there and we will get through it together" to element, a nearby clothing shop.
the cafe now operates reduced hours between 10am and 6pm every day. its daily business is just 15 percent of what it was before the epidemic, huang said.
"i feel happy and warm to receive such a letter. it makes me feel the warmth of the yuyuan road," said recipient zhu yide, owner of element.
"all the businesses on yuyuan road have a common destiny in the face of the epidemic," said li from the lantern store. "the activity makes us feel more powerful to jointly overcome current difficulties."
she presented several heart-shaped lamps to campaigners, which have been used to decorate a nearby bakery.
xu and her team have also enabled store owners to share business strategies through video conferences and to seek cooperation with others.
for example, the owner of the pinkpig bakery has begun selling an afternoon tea package with its neighbor, traditional dim sum brand taikang. a cup of coffee from pinkpig is sold with a meat mooncake from taikang at a discounted 30.5 yuan (us$4.4).
the combination of east and west flavors is popular with employees and residents.
inspired by the cooperation, slowww melt now sells hot chocolate with pinkpig's sea salt bread in another afternoon tea package.
the stores are also promoting their key products on colorful posters displayed at nearby neighborhoods and office buildings. creater has reduced the leases for the street stores.
residents are also making their contribution. they are being invited to take photos or videos on yuyuan road to be posted online for tourists to enjoy a virtual tour.
some shop owners with delivery services are taking part in the video-recording to promote products available for online ordering. lu na, for example, owner of a dancing studio, has begun offering online classes through wechat and popular online video platforms.
a poster identifies key products of street stores on yuyuan road so customers can scan qr codes and order online.
