Stalling for time

IT'S A SCORCHING, humid Sunday afternoon on Zaoyang Road, the commercial hub for residents of Shanghai's Changning district. Amid the noise of blaring sirens, squealing brakes and incessant shouting, hundreds of bai tan, or street stalls, are springing into action.

Usually, it's the poorly educated and unskilled of China's workforce who operate them. But lately, a few new faces have appeared that don't quite fit in - such as Summer Zhang, a 20-year-old business administration student from nearby Shanghai University. Zhang has set up a T-shirt stall and her parents aren't happy. 'My father wanted me to find a part-time internship or something,' she says. 'But nowadays that's as easy as me becoming the president of the United States.'

Print option is available for subscribers only.
SUBSCRIBE NOW
Copyright © 2025 South China Morning Post Publishers Ltd. All rights reserved.