Written by: Ma Shaobin
Posted on: July 03, 2018 | 
| 中文
Ma Zhiqiang
“To achieve my dream, I am working really hard,” said Ma Zhiqiang, a 22-year-old young man who was skillfully making Jianbing, a kind of thin Chinese pancake, a typical and common food in North China. Jianbing is made of wheat or millet flour with batter and eggs, topped with cilantro, scallions and a sweet sauce made of bean paste, often with the addition of a deep-fried crunchy wafer.
Everybody living in Horgos (Xinjiang, China) knows Ma Zhiqiang’s Jianbing store, as it is the only store of this kind in the locality. Customers often have to wait in a long queue to buy one. He plans on opening another Jianbing store here, which is now being decorated, and will open soon. The trademark for his Jianbing brand is already registered and submitted.
Ma, born in 1995, used to be a waiter in a restaurant and then a peddler doing small business, before he started his own wine business in China-Kazakhstan Horgos International Border Cooperation Centre at Horgos Port in 2011. One day in early 2017, he suddenly gave up the idea of selling wines with his partner and decided to open a snack bar. “I like delicious food. And I don't want to live an uneventful life,” Ma recalls.
In fact, Ma did a thorough investigation into the food service market in Horgos before he made up his mind to try something new. To his surprise, he found that there was not a single Jianbing store across the entire Horgos area.
In early 2017, Ma was apprenticed to a Jianbing master in Yining, the capital city of Yili Kazakh Autonomous Prefecture. Shortly, after 2 months, he had gathered the requisite skills to start making it himself.
After going back to Horgos, he was busy looking for a proper site to start decorating. 20th May 2017 marked the opening of his small but desirably-decorated, Jianbing store, down the street. Exclusive to the area, his business began to boom beyond his expectations.
“Delicious, convenient, and inexpensive, Jianbing is very popular among young people,” said Ma. According to customers, constant improvements in the taste of ingredients made his Jianbing very popular. His business was getting better with passing time, from selling thirty sets of Jianbing earlier to sixty later in a day, with a monthly income exceeding 10,000 RMB.
“Happiness comes from what I love to do. I am also making bigger money out of it. I feel like I am more motivated than ever. My life is filled with hope!” said Ma.
What got him really happy and excited was that once a customer came all the way from Qingshuihe Town, 28 kilometres away, to Horgos just for his Jianbing.
Gradually, he would find himself unable to manage everything as his store grew. So he had to hire two additional staff members to oversee his business. However, he still insists on making Jianbing himself, not because he is afraid of the skill being stolen by others, but to ensure that the taste and quality of Jianbing doesn’t change over time.
Horgos, in Ma’s eyes, is not only a millennium port but a young city. It is the dreamland and showcase place for young dreamers, since the city itself is now seizing every important opportunity and taking greater leaps in economic society.
“Horgos is also a friendly place for business starters. As long as one cherishes their dream and strives for it, the efforts will definitely pay off!” said Ma Zhiqiang, who would like to own a much bigger business of Jianbing.
All photography by Wang Yangyang.
Translated by Yang Jing
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