Felix Wu is a third-generation Frenchman who runs his family's Chinese restaurant and only registered to vote a few years ago. Now he wants to be mayor of Chinatown in eastern Paris.
Mr Wu is the first Chinese-Frenchman - and the first Asian - to head an electoral list in France. With the first round of municipal elections to be held tomorrow, his quixotic campaign has already shaken up the political establishment. 'My personal baggage is almost completely French,' he said. 'But when people look at me, they see me as an immigrant or somehow not totally French.'
Running as an independent at the lead of what he called a 'diversity list', the 36-year-old Mr Wu said he hoped to empower the Asian community in France and improve its overall image.
'My candidacy is the only way to give an electric shock to the system,' he said.
With his spiky haircut and jeans, Mr Wu is an anomaly in the clannish world of French politics. He is a successful entrepreneur, not a career politician. He did not come up through the ranks of the mainstream parties. And if he wins a council seat in his Paris district, or the mayor's job, he will be the first person of Chinese background to hold elective office.
'The parties here are fossilised,' said Mr Wu, in his tiny campaign office in the heart of Chinatown. 'I'm running as an independent because there was no possibility for an Asian to head a list.'