Young Chinese woman in tears after selling only 1 rice roll for 72 US cents at mobile stall for whole day, says stress is causing headaches and anxiety
- A viral video of a self-employed 25-year-old woman in tears after earning just 72 US cents in a day hits a nerve in China
- With slow economic growth and more graduates competing for fewer vacancies, the jobless rate among young people aged 16 to 24 has risen to nearly 20 per cent
A video of a woman in tears after selling just one rice roll for 5 yuan (72 US cents) at her mobile food stall has been watched more than 100 million times in China, where youth unemployment is near 20 per cent.
Lan Yuwen, 25, said she lost her job with a private tutoring company after it closed down late last year amid China’s controversial clampdown on after-school tutoring.
The emotional video showed Lan in tears after her second day selling rice rolls on the streets of Wuhan in Hubei province, central China. It went viral soon after she posted it on local news site Bilibili, The Cover reported earlier this month.
In the video, Lan says she wakes up at 5am to prepare the ingredients for making the rice rolls, sets up her booth and opens by 7am. However, she said because she has to change her stall location constantly by order of city administration staff, she ends up having few customers.
Official employment figures released last month showed that while the overall unemployment rate dipped slightly to 5.3 per cent, the jobless rate among those aged 16-24 had risen by 19.6 per cent in March this year.
After several months of struggling to find work, Lan became a street food vendor at the end of March.
“I don’t want to find a make-do job as it will bring me spiritual pain. But I must pay my rent, so I need to earn money to support myself,” Lan told The Cover.
She said she was happy with the income from selling rice rolls on her first day. However, on the second day, while she had prepared 10 rice rolls, she managed to sell only one by the end of the day, prompting her to break down on camera.
Lan said she also cried in the middle of the day after being driven away from one location by city officials who do not permit street traders to operate across many areas of the city.
“It’s really a laborious job to do business from a street stand. You have to prepare in advance, you have to set up your booth, and you have to deal with various emergencies,” said Lan. “I have to get up at 5am every day and develop a headache by the end of the day. It’s hard for a single person to manage all of this.”
She said selling food on the street is temporary while returning to full-time employment is her long-term plan.
Lan’s video has been viewed 100 million times on Weibo alone and received a flood of sympathetic responses on social media.
“Go for it! These are only setbacks,” one person encouraged her.
“Life is difficult for everyone and more difficult for entrepreneurs. We should be more understanding and tolerant,” another person said.
One online commenter offered some business advice: “Doing business is not easy for anyone. I suggest this girl offer different types of breakfast food, such as milk, soya milk and tea leaf eggs. Gain more experience, and I believe your business will get better.”
