Clothing hung on a Wall of Kindness in Zhengzhou city, Central China's Henan province on Feb 3, 2016. (Photo provided to China Daily)
At the side of a highway underpass in the coastal city of Xiamen, clothes donated for the homeless pile up untouched beneath a 5-meter-long foam board encouraging passers-by to donate.
The donation site, established by local businessman Chen Jiangwei, 25, and two friends in February, is one of China's latest installations for the charitable Wall of Kindness initiative that began in Iran last year.
But the movement is off to a bumpy start in China as enthusiastic donors overwhelm donation sites.
When Chen and his friends first built the wall they were worried that there would be not enough donations. Shortly after opening, the site was overflowing, leaving them struggling to cope.
As of Monday, more than 20,000 articles of clothing had been collected at Chen's site in Xiamen, but only 3,000 were taken by the homeless.
"Too many clothes began piling up and eventually it blocked the road," Chen said.
The site caught the attention of local urban management authorities, who threatened to remove the wall if it was not properly managed.
Chen turned to the local subdistrict administrative office for help, working out a plan to cooperate with the Xiamen Volunteer Club and two other local organizations. Volunteers have since been recruited to wash the clothes and help store excess materials.
The Wall of Kindness in Kunming City, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province, faced similar problems after it was built earlier this year. Just ten days after it opened, the cluttered site was shut down.
"It turned into a dumping ground for clothes after residents donated completely unusable things like underwear and worn-out gym shoes," said Zhao Chenglan, a staff member at the administrative office for the Kunming North Station neighborhood.
Nobody knows who established the wall. Zhao and her colleagues had to clear away the clothes.
It recently re-opened after they expanded and reinforced the wall and added two "buckets of kindness" for additional storage.
"We have arranged special personnel to manage the wall and buckets, and clean the donated clothes," said Zhao, though she admits challenges such as lack of disinfection equipment and fund shortages still exist.
There is no official data on how many Walls of Kindness have been set up in China so far, but walls have been reported in several cities including Beijing, Tianjin, Yinchuan, Hohhot, Jinhua and Guigang.
But establishing a site is only half the battle. As the sites in Xiamen and Kunming have proven, finding measures to ensure the piles of donated clothes are cleaned and stored properly is another.
Chen Fuping, an expert on social work with Xiamen University said the solution employed in Xiamen could provide a good example to follow.
"Such novel idea is the hallmark of smaller charities. To make it sustainable, we need cooperation from NGOs, volunteers and government departments, and to map out detailed rules and procedures for donations and management," Chen said.
The Wall of Kindness has been well-received among Chinese as it takes into consideration the dignity of people in need, allowing them a degree of anonymity. The initiative also allows wealthy urban residents to donate their unused goods to the poor, which can boost public awareness of helping and sharing, said Zhao Jie, associate professor with Xiamen University.
When Chen Jiangwei passes through the underpass where his wall stands, he always takes a minute to reflect on the words they wrote on the wall when first building it: "If you don't need it, leave it; If you need it, take it."
"Cultivating a social atmosphere of helping and sharing needs time. But as long as everyone takes action, we can keep the wall and our charitable work forever," said Chen.
