Former FT in China
- 2016-10-20
We returned to England at the turn of this year having spent two months holiday in China. We thought we brought back a spanker of a project with us; which was to make and sell bingzi at home. I said to the wife ,we won't mind putting serious money into it but we need to see if bingzi will sell first. The way of doing that was by using a gazebo- however, it still required some reasonable injection of cash. Buying huge gas ovens to make the bingzi was no small expenditure (but still have those.) I said to the wife if it all goes pear-shaped we will return to China for a couple of years, in order that the child can get to know her Chinese family better.
I personally believe the right people could have made a success of bingzi in UK, but we spent a good while not even covering the market fees. So you see I am a failure who scurried off to China with his tail between his legs. We arrived back 31st May.
I was going to aim this at a certain poster but second thoughts held me back "More bloody drivel!" he might say. Hahaha. Actually I have the perfect temperament for a poster- occasionally I have to pretend to be upset but never am. We called it 'Bingzi Queen'
A few years ago a small baker's shop in Hohhot started selling rolls baked on the premises using a western oven that had cost a great deal of money. The rolls were excellent, but were not bought by the Chinese in sufficient quantities to make the project viable. The oven was eventually sold on!
A Beijing duck takeaway and an HK duck takeaway in my street also went bankrupt fast! South China, Hebei, Beijing and Sichuan people like duck, North China people prefer chicken!
Try this link for Late Night Live after 9 pm China time. Find the program there and click the play symbol (>).