In the early morning of August 8th, at the Lotus Flower Market in Suzhou's Baita Park, over a hundred lotus vendors had their stalls neatly lined up. Amid the crowd, an elderly man wearing a lotus leaf hat and a beaming smile was affectionately called 'Lotus Leaf Grandpa' by netizens: 70-year-old Mr. Zhu. The lotus leaf hat he casually gifted to a customer unexpectedly became a nationwide 'summer special'. Now, he gives away more than a hundred lotus leaf hats every day. Mr. Zhu said with a smile to reporters, 'Since everyone likes them so much, how could I let anyone leave empty-handed!'
Speaking about how the lotus leaf hats came about, Mr. Zhu waved his hand and laughed: 'It was all by accident.' It all started as a little joke with a regular customer. Mr. Zhu recalls that once, a regular brought their child to buy lotus flowers. The little one, sunburned, kept hiding behind the adult. He plucked a lotus leaf and handed it over for shade, making a playful comment: 'This looks better than a straw hat—exclusive limited edition from Suzhou!' Unexpectedly, the customer grew more and more fond of it, asked him to trim it up a bit, and put it on the child’s head—turns out, it looked quite charming. Ever since then, he picks out the freshest lotus leaves every day and hands out a lotus leaf hat to everyone he meets. What started as a spontaneous act at his stall unexpectedly spread by word of mouth and quickly became the signature scene of the Lotus Flower Market.
Nowadays, giving away over a hundred hats a day has become routine. 'Both kids and adults love them, and seeing them smile makes me smile too.' What truly made the lotus leaf hat go 'viral across the internet' was a short video casually filmed by a tourist: in the clip, Mr. Zhu is seen busily folding and handing out hats, sweat trickling down his forehead, but the smile on his face never fades. The caption read simply—'Grandpa is so busy, but his smile never drops.' The video quickly gained tens of thousands of likes, and the comment section exploded. Some reminisced about their own grandmothers making lotus leaf hats in the past, some wondered how a single leaf could be folded so ingeniously, while even more people said they were healed by his smile, 'wishing they could fly to Suzhou right away.'
The sudden fame took Mr. Zhu by surprise. Previously, he mostly served local regulars, but now people from all over the country come flocking, and the demand for lotus leaves has suddenly skyrocketed. 'Suzhou's bridges and waterways paired with lotus leaf hats—so fresh and gentle—who knew so many people would like them.' At peak times, crowds three or four deep packed his stall. He juggled collecting money, folding hats, and chatting with customers, all at once, but his smile never waned. Seeing the demand for lotus leaf hats outstripping supply, Mr. Zhu patted his chest and promised everyone: 'Next time I'll bring even more lotus leaves—can't let folks come all this way and leave empty-handed!'