Thermos Depot

Walking around the Beijing Normal University campus leads to many unexplained sights (since I don't have the Chinese words or characters to understand them). Today's mystery picture is this:


Thermos Parade
The stash of Thermos flasks was outside a room where there were taps giving hot water. People seemed to walk up, pick a random thermos, and fill it with hot water. Is this for tea? I've no idea if the bicycle locks are connected with this activity, or if they serve a different purpose some other time of day!


Communal Tea?