By Evan
Ever since I began frequenting the institution of Shaxian Snacks (沙县小吃) back in Shanghai two years ago, I’ve always had a vague desire to know just what old Shaxian (沙县, literally “Sand County”) is all about. I mean, the little hole-in-the-wall (they all look more or less like this) vendors of super cheap banmian (拌面, mixed noodles), zhengjiao (蒸饺, steamed dumplings), and other dimsum’ish delicacies are almost on every corner (those not occupied by Lanzhou Pulled Noodles, that is) back in the Paris of the East (you heard me, Alexis). I passed two on my fifteen minute walk to work every morning. So it was that as we rolled south from Gaoqiao toward the Mecca of mian meals, I felt like a Bubba who’d spent years eating the Colonel’s secret recipe finally making the hajj to Louisville.
I'm telling you, southern Shaxian is Lord of the Rings stuff. Photo by Evan
Most unfortunately, however, the county city of Shaxian was just like any other county city anywhere else we’ve found, give or take a really gaudy central plaza and a giant, expensive, extra-touristy and double-lame City of Snacks (小吃城). We ate the only meal we could in good conscience eat, of course, and slipped through the city without too much event. However, since leaving, I found this article on People’s Daily about the phenomenon and have since reconsidered the rest of our time in the county of sand. If People’s Daily is to be trusted (you think FoxNews has an agenda?), nearly half of the rural labor force of the county is somewhere else in China operating dingy dim sum dives under the exact same moniker. That’s more than 50,000 people, mostly in Shanghai (over 2,000 locations) and Guangdong province (6,000 locations!). It just made me think how huge a role geographical luck plays in the life of people in China. Born in Huafeng, you’ll likely spend your life in a coal mine; Jingdezhen, and you’ll probably see your fair share of ceramics; Anxi, and expect some tea in your life; Shaxian, and get ready to fry some noodles etc., etc. By the way, make a note of the last paragraph of that article:
Some outlets are plagued by poor training, or poor internal financial control. For example, the owners of many small outlets are not showing much competitive edge; they tend to use much of their profit to build new houses for themselves and spend little on reinvestment.
