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Q: Most unlikely business ventures you've come across in China.
There's a busy street, full of market stalls, a handful of brothels, not unknown to see rats scampering about in it and not in any way the type of cosmopolitan atmosphere you would look for if you wished to open a restaurant of class, quality tailoring establishment, or some such manner of up-class business, but a lone French guy (lovely man, I say hi every time I pass) chose that spot of all places to open an absolutely beautiful little French patisserie, and as God is my witness, in all the time i've been here, I could count the amount of customers combined that i've seen inside his shop, on one hand, and not include my thumb. It fits in like an elephant at an Easter egg hunt.
So, what other unlikely business ventures have you spotted around and about in China? Any unlikely ones that worked, and if they didn't, why not?
I have seen a bar that specialized in playing only heavy metal & punk music in Wuhan. It stayed open for about a month. According to the owner, I was one of 5 people that entered the place the entire time it was open.
I have seen a "Corn" shop. They only sold boiled corn. It was also very bad. I think they lasted 2 months.
But the best was a noodle restaurant I visited that was run by a foreigner and his Chinese Wife. The foreigner was the noodle chef, and if I do say so myself, made really good noodles. The place has been open for over 10 years, I believe.
mArtiAn:
Well heavy metal and punk; not my thing: corn; not my thing: noodles; also not really my thing: but people pushing the envelope and trying something new: God bless them; totally my thing. I would go to all of those places. And I wouldn't let them see me hurl when I left.
(Sorry, i'm not sure how to use these things:;:;:;:;:;)
This danish guy who was a nice enough fellow had a coffee shop/nail salon. Only thing, despite being danish, he ran it the way a Chinese one is run. I went in for a cup and he said all they had were those big bodums and they were 50 kaui and no I couldn't get one to go..... off to McDonald's I went to get an 8 kuai cup of decent coffee in a to go cup.
That place didn't last long.
Years ago, I went (unknowingly) to a Nazi themed bar in Tianjin. Suffice it to say, the Jewish friend with me was not amused. We stayed for about an hour, took lots of photographs to document how surreal the place was, then got the hell out of there.
Met a foreigner who makes a living exporting/selling paper rolls. You know the little paper receipts you get whenever you buy something at a store or restaurant. he buys rolls of that paper in large quality in China then goes overseas and sells them to mom and pop shops.
You wouldn't think it but he's made a career out of it and makes pretty damn good money.
I heard of another guy (I don't know him) once that made a living exporting socks and toothpaste from China back to his home country
I thought the official statement from both China and America was that he injured his back while swimming ?
I'll believe that over rumors. Even if it's not true.
