Coronavirus: Chinese kindergarten survives Covid-19 by selling barbecue

Owner of Angel Baby Kindergarten in Baoding cooks up a storm with her temporary restaurant

Food has proved so popular, teachers who just weeks ago faced losing their jobs, are now back on full pay

2-MIN READ2-MIN

Angel Baby Kindergarten saved its bacon by selling barbecue. Photo: Handout

Published: 10:15am, 18 May 2020Updated: 10:15am, 18 May 2020

As the saying goes, when life gives you lemons, make lemonade. Or in the case of a Chinese kindergarten forced to close because of the coronavirus pandemic, make barbecue.

Hei Xiaojuan, owner of the Angel Baby Kindergarten in the northern city of Baoding, said her business was on the verge of bankruptcy when her young charges were told to stay home because of the Covid-19 outbreak.

After paying 200,000 yuan (US$28,000) in advance rent – with a further 400,000 yuan due in September – and refunding tuition fees, the business was close to going bust, she was quoted as saying in a report by local newspaper Orient Today.

“If I couldn’t find a way to make money, I would’ve had to close my kindergarten, like the seven others nearby that have shut recently,” Hei said.

So when the lockdown measures were eased several weeks ago – meaning people could go out to eat again, but parents were reluctant to let their children go back to school – Hei decided to shift her business from baby care to barbecue.