Editor’s Note: A pair of dashing young Frenchmen became internet celebrities overnight as Chinese passers-by posted online about the two students selling crêpes on the street outside their university gate. Micro-blogging is hugely popular in China, and allows regular people to document all the peculiar happenings they come across, and change the destinies of people like the two in this article.

On May 21, a new vendor’s booth suddenly appeared near the south gate of Tongji University’s Siping Lu campus in Shanghai. Their product? “French crêpes.” What made the stall stick out from the crowd? The two vendors were curly-haired, “tall-nosed” young Frenchmen, chatting to each other in French while nonchalantly flipping crêpes. Allured by the strange sight, a considerable number of students eagerly forked over some RMB to try the pastries.     

The next afternoon, an internet user calling himself “VO_Beizhen” posted a description of the weird occurrence on the Chinese micro-blogging site Sina Weibo. The post immediately attracted a flood of attention and was shared over 300 times that day. Quite a few blog readers braved the wind and rain just to get a look at the handsome boys and buy one of their home-made crêpes.

Instant Online Sensation

On May 21, their first day in business, the two French boys became an instant online sensation. From posts on Chinese websites Sina Weibo and Douban, it became clear that the two young Frenchmen are exchange students studying in Shanghai. Their names are Benoit and Julien and their only known possessions are a white pedicab, a wooden stand, a sign reading “French crêpes,” a flat pan and a few ingredients and cooking utensils. Their unusual looks made them stand out among the small crowd of street vendors and helped catch the eyes of a large number of passers-by. The majority of students passing the stand were more than willing to stop and pay the 4 RMB the boys charged for each one of the famous French desserts.

After visiting the stall, customers posted detailed descriptions of the two chefs’ entire crêpe-making process online: one person made crêpes; one person added topping. The process was described as similar to that of baking a cake. After removing the cake from the pan, they smeared it with very special condiments: you could choose from kiwi or mango jam, sugar, chocolate, honey or lemon. “Or you could pick all of them since the laowai (foreigners) weren’t stingy at all about the sauce!”

Run in with the cops

One blogger posted that on the night of May 21 he chatted with the two vendors as they made his crêpe, and told them that the city management sometimes gives the vendors by the school gates some trouble. The two Frenchmen were clearly oblivious about the rules of running a “black” (illegal) business.

Suddenly, a city law enforcement car pulled up. The other vendors hectically threw their things together, scrambling to get out of sight. Benoit and Julien looked on, slightly puzzled. Customers began to shout at them, “Run! Get out of here!” The two boys glanced around at the other vendors swiftly fleeing the scene and realized something wasn’t quite right. One messily smeared some jam onto the crêpe in his hand and flung it to a customer, after which they began frantically packing up. The law enforcement car was already right in front of them honking its horn. One of the boys rode away on the pedicab and a few other people grabbed the cooking utensils and made a run for it. Several of the students still waiting in line for crêpes were immensely disappointed and vowed to return the next day.

Prices Go Up 1 Yuan

The next night, I personally made a trip to Tongji Unversity’s south gate on Chifenglu but failed to catch a glimpse of the legendary dashing Frenchmen. One vendor told me that the “French crêpes” stand had disbanded at 21:30. “They started up at 19:00, grabbed one of the best vending spots, and two hours later had already sold out.” A Tongji University student said that the internet frenzy had made the business explode in popularity. The two boys took advantage of the high crêpe demand and raised the “opening day discount price” of 4 Yuan to a second-day-in-business price of 5 Yuan. Impressed by the two boys’ sudden fame, many students buying the desserts took advantage of the chance to chat with and drool over the vendors.

The logic behind Benoit and Julien’s transformation into street vendors is pretty simple. After coming to Shanghai they noticed the multitude of snack vendors by the school gates and suddenly imagined themselves in their midst selling crêpes, an easy-to-make and distinctively French dessert. The two boys spent an afternoon preparing the dough, fruit and other materials, then went out at 19:00 to start vending. An instant success, they raked in a killing in their very first night.

Source: gcpnews.com

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Keywords: Foreign businesses in China foreign street vendors Shanghai French crepe vendors Tongji university