The topic of well-educated graduates selling traditional Chinese snacks is currently attracting a lot attention. Instead of working as white collars in an office, these graduates have chosen to sell Chinese pancakes, rice noodles, and hamburgers. People are surprised and are asking themselves why graduates should make such choices? Is their background a promotional stunt or the key to their success?

Fu Niu Tang is a tiny restaurant of less than 20 square meters under the Beijing World Financial Center. After two successful years, Huang Tai Ji, a dining place which used to specialize in Chinese pancakes, is now planning to promote other traditional Chinese snacks. And the staff of Xi Shao Ye, a Chinese hamburger restaurant, are busy working in their branch store. The bosses of these restaurants have one thing in common - they are all college graduates with a high educational background.

Why snacks?

Zhang Tianyi graduated from Peking University with a master's degree in law. Instead of working in a law office as expected, he is now making rice noodles, stewing pork soup, answering phone calls, and serving people. He wakes up at 6 am, and closes his Fu Niu Tang at 10 pm every day.

"It is so difficult to find an ideal job, and I didn't want to settle for anything less, so I decided to open my own business," he says.

Compared with Zhang Tianyi, He Chang, the founder of Huang Tai Ji is more sophisticated, with previous working experience in IT and advertising. He comments: "The Chinese dining market is tremendous with great opportunities for profit. The Chinese pancake used to be a snack you could only buy from vendors; I want to provide a clean and comfortable dining environment for traditional Chinese pancakes."

One of the co-founders of Xi Shao Ye told journalists: "First, it is hard to find the most traditional Xi'an Chinese hamburger in Beijing; second, it is easier to control our costs with take-away food. So we decided to sell Chinese hamburgers."

Once under way, there remain the challenges of conquering all the obstacles and keeping their businesses running. Huang Tai Ji has now developed other products like special hot pot and stew, and Zhang Tianyi opened his second rice noodle store in July.

What's the difference?

Fu Niu Tang offers rice noodles from Changde and Hunan, together with other signature beverages like lei cha and soy milk. Based on traditional Chinese snacks like Chinese pancakes, fried bread sticks, and soybean milk, Huang Tai Ji has also developed Chinese wraps, dumplings in spicy sauce, mung bean soup, and other such dishes. From high quality food selection to customers' feedback and interaction, they are trying to provide a new experience in the traditional Chinese snack industry.

Aside from the food, the biggest obstacle for these young entrepreneurs is rent. "We went to almost every office building in Beijing when we were trying to find a place. We only had 100,000 yuan to start up, it was difficult to find a good place with that much money," says Zhang.

When his article "Why I am selling rice noodles with a master's degree" went viral on wechat moments, Fu Niu Tang became quite famous. However, the quality of his rice noodles could not keep up with the growing number of customers. Some even began to complain. To improve the situation, Zhang Tianyi made the decision to limit the quantity of rice noodles he would sell each day. "If we make more than 150 bowls of rice noodles a day, it's hard to guarantee the quality. So we decided on a limit of 150 bowls a day."

The first Huang Tai Ji store was only 20 square meters; now it is the delivery center for the brand. He Chang says: "In the catering business, the biggest cost is rent. The first place is a little remote, but luckily it was not too far from Guomao, so the customer flow was guaranteed."

How to let more people know about the brand? "The Internet," replies He Chang. When He Chang arrived in a smart car to deliver the food, a customer who was a lawyer thought it very interesting. He took a photo and shared it on moments of wechat, and more people got to know about and enjoy the food of Huang Tai Ji. Customers can also use wechat and microblog to file complaints. "If it is reasonable complaint, I will tell the store manager," He says.

How long will it last?

"Since I started my own business, I have begun to realize the most important thing is to work steadily and make solid progress, and also to think about others," Zhang Tianyi says. "I wouldn't think too much about the future. Maybe I will keep doing rice noodles, maybe I will quit someday. But for now, I just want to do it right."

On the Huang Tai Ji receipt is the message: "Tomorrow is unpredictable, let's shine today!" There are now seven Huang Tai Ji Stores. He Chang tells journalists: "18 months ago, I would never have dreamed of having seven stores. When I opened my second store, I was so worried."

Now Huang Tai Ji has its own system including kitchen, logistics supply, quality supervision, delivery services, etc. and specific goals of chain expansion. He Chang is still keeping close interaction with his customers - no matter how big the business is, he thinks customers' good feedback is the ground for any future development. 

The article is edited and translated from 《高材生卖小吃 高在哪？》，source: People's Daily, authors: Wei Wei, Ji Jianming, Chen Ling