'Old man who loves Shanghai' sends love via bamboo shoots

The Shanghai Charity Foundation received more than 2,000 boxes of vegetables from Ningbo in Zhejiang Province on April 17, among which were over 140 bottles of braised bamboo shoots, together with a letter from "an old man who loves Shanghai."

The writer of the letter, a retired teacher in Ningbo's Fenghua District, said he grew up in Shanghai. In 1962, when he was 17 years old, he left Shanghai to work in agriculture in the countryside – following his father's footsteps. He also taught in the area for more than 30 years.

"I left Shanghai 60 years ago, but I still feel a strong connection to the city," he wrote.

As a result, he has been eager to do something to help the city during this difficult period.

He therefore took a bus to the countryside with his wife. There they dug more than 150 kilograms of spring bamboo shoots and asked their neighbors to help peel, wash and cut them.

The bamboo shoots were then cooked on a stove for eight hours before being bottled, sealed and sterilized.

"Although it's only a small bottle of braised bamboo shoots, it comes with our best wishes. We want to boost the morale of Shanghai residents," he said.

Toward the end of the letter he wrote: "Half of April has passed and spring is in the air. I hope you overcome the difficulties and life returns to normal soon!"

The 140 bottles of braised bamboo shoots were put into the vegetable packages and sent to residents in Minhang District's Xinhong Subdistrict, according to a report in The Paper.