Hundreds of cleaners had a relaxing time after they were invited to have a free morning tea at a buffet restaurant, in Huxi Road, Changchun, capital city of Jilin, on January 6.

One cleaner said that they had had to dress in clean clothes to be allowed in.

“We would be reluctant to come into the restaurant if we were dressed in our dirty uniforms,” the guy went on to say.

Street laborers work long hours to maintain the streets, squares and other public spaces in a clean and tidy state, but they don’t have a place in which to rest.

So, the restaurant manager welcomed them to take a rest inside.

The activity was organized by a Changchun-based charity goup–the Baichuan volunteer association, along with a few sponsors who offered workers free scarves and tea packs.

For 14,000 Changchun street cleaners, the annual salary was a mere 16,000 yuan in 2013, which was much lower than the 2012 average income of Changchun residents, as Xinhua reported on Nov 20, 2013.

A bunch of Changchun street cleaners are served with desserts and hot drinks at a buffet restaurant in Changchu Xihu Road, on January 6. [Photo by Jiang Shengsong]