Twenty minutes before his afternoon shift, 54-year-old Huynh Kinh Phat routinely pulls off Le Van Luong Street in Tan Hung Ward, steering his motorbike up to the curb outside a gold shop. Nodal acknowledgment exchanged with the shop owner, he smoothly retrieves a personal one-liter container, flips open the styrofoam chest by the entryway, scoops crushed ice to the brim, and pours cold brewed tea.
Phat works as a company driver based in Phu My Hung. His daily bread requires spending most hours out under the sun. On sweltering days, an accessible, dependable watering hole makes all the difference.
“When it’s blazing hot, thirst hits hard. Having a spot like this offering free cold drinks is an immense relief. I’ve pulled over here for three solid years,” Phat noted after taking a long draw of fresh iced tea.
The shop equips the stand with everything from straws and takeaway carrier bags to plastic cups for commuters.
A Record-Breaking 100+ Bags of Ice a Day
Much like Phat, 38-year-old ride-hail driver Nguyen Van Nam, who frequents routes across the Nha Be area and the former District 7, treats this curbside stall as his daily “refueling station.”
Wiping sweat from his brow after a midday dispatch, Nam reflected: “At first, pulling into an upscale gold shop just to take water felt awkward. But the moment you pull up, the guard greets you with a warm smile, tears open a sleeve of fresh plastic cups, and hands you a straw. Under this brutal sun, getting an ice-cold gulp without paying a dime saves gig workers like me a noticeable chunk of money every single month.”
The complimentary iced tea chest on Le Van Luong Street has quietly served street commuters for roughly two decades.
Beyond motorbike drivers, itinerant street vendors along the strip are frequent regulars. Le Thi Mai, 42, carrying balanced baskets of street goods on a shoulder pole along Le Van Luong Street, said: “Many afternoons out on foot leave you parched and exhausted. On slow sales days, you can’t afford to step into a commercial drink stall. This ice chest is an absolute lifesaver.”
On any given day, hundreds of motorbikes queue in an unbroken chain alongside the gold shop’s facade.
From delivery couriers and platform drivers to freelance manual laborers, the drill is second nature: curb the bike, pop the lid of an insulated tumbler, and fill it with chilled tea. Many drink one serving on the spot and top off a secondary large cup packed with crushed ice to latch onto their handlebars for the road ahead.
Though the shop puts up no self-aggrandizing signs, the thoroughness of the setup surprises newcomers: drinking straws, plastic cups, plastic carry bags, and tight-fitting lids are methodically laid out, matching the hospitality of a paid commercial beverage kiosk.
To ensure an uninterrupted flow of cold tea from dawn until dusk, the shop’s crew starts prep long before sunrise.
Tran Ut Cung, the premises security guard, arrives around 5:15 a.m. daily. His opening routine involves neither checking door bolts nor inspecting security monitors; instead, he boils water, brews large batches of tea, splits ice, and organizes cup dispensers and carrier bags for the outdoor station.
“I’ve guarded this gold shop for 17 years, but my daily routine mirrors a roadside tea vendor. I attend to that tea vat far more often than I watch parked motorbikes,” Mr. Cung remarked.
Mr. Cung’s primary responsibility revolves around replenishing cold tea and crushed ice.
During severe southern heat waves—such as the scorcher logged on September 8—the volume of parched drivers pulling over surges by early morning, forcing the shop to summon bulk ice delivery trucks for three distinct drops throughout the day. He noted the shop drained an unprecedented 110 sacks of crushed ice in a single 24-hour cycle—the highest volume in its operating history.
At 15,000 VND per sack, daily crushed ice expenditures alone peaked at 1.65 million VND ($65), completely excluding expenses for tea leaves, utility electricity to boil gallons of water, and disposable drinkware.
“When temperatures climb, the drivers pack the curb. Rainy spells see fewer visits. Driving in this heat is grueling work; a complimentary cold beverage helps take the edge off their day,” Cung added.
“The More, the Merrier”
The complimentary iced tea chest was first initiated two decades ago by shop owner Nguyen Ngoc Chau, 57, a native of Vinh Long Province. Gold and jewelry retail traditionally demands rigorous perimeter control, with security teams keeping loiterers away from storefront thresholds.
Mrs. Chau, however, has never fretted over crowding or sales interruptions. If anything, she welcomes the sight of delivery workers, drivers, and passing pedestrians taking a breather, trading a few friendly words, and setting off refreshed.
“My boutique is small; customers trickle in gently through the day. Having lively crowds gather outside only brings cheer—no one has to buy gold,” she explained.
Driver Mr. Kinh Phat refills his insulated tumbler outside the gold shop entrance.
Chau started the tea chest simply out of a wish to offer relief to outdoor laborers enduring relentless urban heat. Every expense is drawn directly from store profit margins, maintained as an unbroken personal commitment across decades.
Twenty years back, the effort began with a solitary styrofoam box and basic provisions. Over time, noticing that many thirsty couriers lacked personal thermoses, Mrs. Chau added single-use plastic cups, straws, lids, and take-away bags so visitors could fill up swiftly and return to their runs without delay.
“If you have the means to do it, you simply do it. It’s nothing grand,” she remarked.
Alongside the iced tea chest, Chau prepares around 10 kilograms of cooked rice daily to feed stray street animals across the former District 7 area, packaging the portions and delivering them to known gathering spots for stray dogs and cats.
(Source: Znews.vn)
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