A Gentle Echo of Kindness: My Ten-Year Journey with Yingming Charity

A Gentle Echo of Kindness:

My Ten-Year Journey with Yingming Charity

In 2012, I met someone who changed the trajectory of my life — and a charity that has lived in my heart ever since.

That person was Mr. Tang Lin, though we affectionately call him “Teacher Tang.” That year, he set foot in Tibet for the first time — carrying medicine, school supplies, and warm clothes — and ventured into the mountains on his first journey of charity.

The first group of children we helped — from the remote village of Laigu — have now all grown up.

That was also the first time I heard the name Yingming Charity.

The name comes from a line in the ancient Chinese classic The Book of Songs:
"Ying qi ming yi, qiu qi you sheng" — Let your good voice be heard, and it will call forth others who resonate with kindness.

Yingming started as a grassroots initiative and later officially registered as the Yingming Educational Charity Development Center in Changsha County. But for us volunteers, it’s always been more than a charity — it’s a warm, living home.

Zero Overhead, 100% to Those in Need

I became deeply involved in Yingming when it launched its Direct Giving Project — an idea that seemed impossible at the time:

Let every penny reach the hands of students in need.
No administrative fees. Full transparency. One-to-one assistance.

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Each sponsored family is visited once a year to check on the child’s living conditions, education, and health.

Here’s how it works:

Every student’s information is verified by local education and civil affairs authorities
Donors choose students freely through the platform
Funds are sent directly from the donor’s bank account to the student’s account
The charity serves only as a verifier and messenger

It may sound more complicated than traditional models, but it builds trust, fosters connection, and ensures impact.

To date, over 8.7 million RMB (~$1.2 million USD) has been donated through Yingming, supporting 613 students — and 42 of them, after graduating from college, have become donors themselves. They are now the light changing others' lives.

And this is just one chapter of Teacher Tang’s long road.

320,000 Kilometers Walked — A Silent Kind of Love

Over the past decade, Teacher Tang has traveled to Tibet 23 times, covering more than 320,000 kilometers on the road of charity.

Along the way, we’ve encountered fascinating local customs, mystery, and moments of unexpected beauty.

He tells us that what stays with him is not the altitude sickness, or the treacherous mountain roads, but the children — laughing in the snow with thin jackets, reading with burning focus in freezing classrooms.

Traveling with him to Tibet is one of the hardest yet most meaningful experiences of my life.

By saving just 10 yuan (about $1.50) from one meal, you can help buy a pair of warm shoes for a child in need.

To save every cent for the kids, we brought pots and pans with us and camped in forests and open fields. The howling winds on the plateau tore at our tents and woke us in the cold night — and each time, I’d see Teacher Tang sitting with a flashlight, cross-checking student lists by hand.

One night, we camped at an unfinished gas station over 4,000 meters above sea level. It started snowing, and I woke up from the cold.

He would smile and say,

“If we spend a night in the cold, maybe one more child can have a warm coat.”

We didn’t just go to Tibet. We also went to Xinjiang, to remote villages in Hunan…
A single down jacket, a heating lamp, or even a book became a source of real warmth for the children in their coldest winters.

The mountain roads are dangerously steep, the weather extreme, and we constantly face threats like falling rocks and landslides.

“Warm Winter Action” – Dignity, Not Pity

In 2015, an extreme cold front hit the border regions of Tibet and Hunan. Many rural schools had no heating, no warm clothes, no blankets.

Some areas are so remote that roads can't reach them — we rely on horses and motorcycles to transport supplies to schools.

So we started a campaign called “Warm Winter Action”. Here's how it works:

Students fill out their own needs lists (sizes, gender, items)
We work with companies to provide new but unsold inventory
All items are documented, verified, and delivered in person

Each item is not charity.
It’s a gesture of respect, a response to dignity, and an act of understanding.

Years of work on the plateau has taken a toll on Teacher Tang’s heart. I once asked him,

“Was it worth it?”
He looked at me, smiled, and pointed:

“Look at the kids.”
I turned — and saw prayer flags flying on a cliff, brand-new school buildings, and children who once went barefoot now reading under solar-powered lights, wearing sneakers and smiling.

That year, many children's hands were frozen stiff. A landslide-dammed lake had flooded their homes, and they were in urgent need of winter supplies.

Over the past 9 years, we've distributed:

🧥 12,000+ winter coats
🛏 4,700 cotton quilts
🔥 800 electric heaters

Each item carries a story — and a child's name.

We captured commemorative photos during the supply distributions.

The children’s joyful smiles after receiving the supplies still warm our hearts.

The Seeds of Culture Are Sprouting Too

One memory that stays with me is from a village in Shigatse, Tibet.

A child's mother ，With shimmering eyes, she brought out the handmade woolen cloth and silver ornaments, saying gently, 'Thank you. Please accept these — they will watch over you. If someone wears them, then they have value.”

That moment moved me deeply.
I realized: beyond financial aid, could we also help preserve their culture?
Could we share their beautiful heritage with the world?

Why This Website Exists

This shop was born from that thought — and that journey.

Here, we offer authentic handcrafted items made by Tibetan artisans — each piece full of heritage, soul, and craftsmanship.

We work directly with families we’ve met — mostly women and elders — to ensure they’re fairly paid, respected, and celebrated for their cultural contributions.

And here is our promise:

🧡 2% of Your Purchase Goes Toward Supporting Education for Tibetan Children.🧡 Every item connects you to a person, a place, and a purpose.
🧡 This is more than a transaction — it’s shared kindness made real.

Join Us — In This Quiet, Beautiful Resistance

If you’ve read this far, thank you.

If you’d like to know more about Teacher Tang, about Yingming, or the children who continue to dream in the deepest mountains, please give us a moment of your time, a little of your attention.

You can also visit our Yingming Direct Giving WeChat Mini Program to view all the verified students and current projects.