New | No more cheap breakfasts? Street food hawkers banned from Beijing's Haidian district
Worries mount that crackdown on Haidian hawkers would leave lower-income families with no cheap breakfast options
Street carts selling steaming heaps of buns, tea eggs and fried pancakes have long served the early-morning crowds of Beijing’s working-class Haidian district. But they may soon vanish as the government has decided to ban makeshift vendors.
Citing food safety concerns, the relevant departments in the district issued directives to shut down unlicensed food carts with “illegal construction” and even licensed breakfast stands before August.
Vendors who fail to comply will see their carts or stands forcibly removed by the Municipal Commission of Urban Planning starting next month.
Residents are worried that the working-class would have less options for cheap breakfasts, The Beijing News reported. Some locals proposed that the food carts should be better regulated instead of being closed down entirely.
As an alternative to the carts, however, the government said it would launch a new “Breakfast Project” which includes building new breakfast-oriented restaurant chains, and encouraging government agencies and schools to serve morning fare in their cafeterias.
But residents doubt these measures could effectively replace the street carts and stands, which offer food as cheap as 10 yuan (HK$13) and which are easily accessible.