A cup of coffee, a furry bear claw and an uneven hole on a gray wall. This is the view from the outside of a special coffee shop in Shanghai, which has garnered wide attention on social media recently. And the story behind the shop has melted the hearts of customers and Chinese netizens.

Hinichijou, a coffee shop located on Yongkang Road in Shanghai, is actually a public welfare program which aims to provide jobs for people with disabilities, according to its founder.

The store manager is a hearing-impaired barista who has won several prizes at coffee-making competitions and the person handing out coffee with a bear claw suffered facial burns. Both of them were graduated from the training school of Shanghai Disabled Persons' Federation.

Customers can scan the QR code hanging on the wall and place their order. Then the coffee will be handed out from the hole on the wall by a furry bear claw. Customers can also interact with the claw during the waiting time. Sometimes the claw will send roses and even pat a customer's head.

There are also other employees at the shop, and if customers have any questions concerning the products, they will walk out from the shop and answer them.

Customers with disability certificates can be offered a cup of special coffee for free.

Amid the epidemic, the bear claw is disinfected regularly to meet hygiene standards.

The coffee shop began its trial on November 15 and opened officially on Thursday, coinciding with the International Day of Persons with Disabilities.

At the beginning, customers were attracted by the shop's special and interesting service mode. But when they got to learn about the story behind it, more and more people began visiting the shop to show their support.

"I hope more shops like this would open in the future," commented @Lisixi on WeChat, China's most popular instant messaging app.

"The civilized level of a society can be found in how it treats its disabled. I hope more companies can offer job opportunities to people with disabilities, helping them participate in the social life more equally," commented @AidiEddie on WeChat.

In fact, this is not the first cafe to hire people with disabilities. Starbucks opened two "silent" cafes in China, one in Beijing and the other in Guangzhou, where they employed people with hearing or speech impairment. 

According to the China Disabled Persons' Federation, there are more than 85 million people living with disabilities in the country, accounting for 6.21 percent of China's total population. 

(Top image: A bear claw is seen handing out a cup of coffee from the hold on the wall in Hinichijou, a coffee shop located in Yongkang Road, Shanghai, December 3, 2020. /CFP )