Who is the Migrant Entrepreneur

8/2/2019 Who is the Migrant Entrepreneur

http://slidepdf.com/reader/full/who-is-the-migrant-entrepreneur 1/77



I. Introduction

The population of Mainland China is divided amongst twenty-three provinces. The

Chinese government has deemed a handful of cities "Independently Administered Municipal

Districts", which collectively serve as the major urban centers of China, where business

opportunities are plentiful given the vast number of people and capital invested in the cities. As

a result of the level of development and modernity, a majority of the individuals who migrate to

these cities are laborers looking for work, while a select few come to the cities to establish their

own business ventures.

In order to properly contextualize the subjects in our study, all migrant entrepreneurs in

this study are considered members of China's "floating population." The floating population of

China refers to the large and increasing number of individuals who leave their regions of origin

and migrate to the urban, economic centers such as Shanghai and Beijing. The term ―floating‖

describes the migrant population whose hukou belongs to an area outside of the city they

currently reside in, legally classifying them as outsiders to the city. The hukou system is a

household registration system, officially identifying a person's region of origin, and the hukou



disadvantage for the individual is that permanent residence cannot be guaranteed in that

particular city.

Regardless of the aforementioned uncertainties and disadvantages, more and more people

flock to the urban centers as the Chinese government continues to modify their hukou policies.

China‘s floating population has almost tripled in a decade and a half, from 70 million in 1993 to

an estimated 200 million in 2008. Yet these numbers have to be taken with a grain of salt; those

with a zanzhuzheng, a temporary residence permit legally allowing the migrants to reside in a

particular city, are certainly included, as well as undocumented individuals without one. The

latter category generally consists of migrants who work in manual labor industries, whether it be

in construction, renovation, factories, or serving as the wait-staff for a restaurant. Living in a

city without proper documentation, these migrants receive no additional benefits other than

whatever their employers wish to provide for them, and are not protected by the local labor laws.

Nevertheless, the impact of the floating population can both be seen and felt by Chinese

residents and foreigners alike. They are the

ones who toil in the heat during the day and



provide smooth and easy access by car throughout Shanghai. Taking up one of these jobs poses

certain physical and legal risks, but when compared to the employment options at home, the

monetary benefits far outweigh the sparse job market in their respective laojia. In the urban

centers, the migrants enjoy a generally higher standard of living, and on top of that have the

means to send money to family

members back home due to their higher

wage or salary.

Extensive research and

examination of migrant day-laborers

has been conducted, and thoroughly

illustrates the integral role they play in

China‘s urban workforce and

infrastructure, but little attention has been

paid to the migrants who diverge from this labor-intensive role. Compared to the laborers who

receive a steady wage or salary, the entrepreneurial path may seem financially unstable and

Figure 2: Workers repair and pave the roads of Shanghai.



their prominence in Shanghai reaffirms the aforementioned Chinese motto as they are evidence

of the vibrant food culture in the bustling city.

II. Methodology

The aim of the project is to develop a critical understanding of the identity of the migrant

entrepreneur through observing the work area, the social network and support systems, and the

operation of the respective businesses. From these factors, we hope to discover from a primary

perspective how and why a small sector of China‘s migrant population relocates from their

native provinces to engage in entrepreneurial ventures.

The project was initially divided into two phases:

Phase 1: Interviews of approximately sixty individuals, focused on how and why they established

a business. In Chinese culture, conversation revolves around the dining table, so when a

migrant-owned eatery has been identified, we will eat there for one meal. During the meal we

will ask for the owner in order to engage in introductory conversation, and this initial

introduction includes discussion about the preparation of the food, the region of origin of the

cuisine, and introductions of ourselves. We will then proceed to inform him/her of our project,



Phase 2: Interviews of six individuals out of the initial survey group of sixty will provide in-

depth data on the economic strategy, social networks, identity, and life of a migrant

entrepreneur. We will choose six that are most receptive to our questions and are most willing to

participate in phase 2. We hope, among those willing to participate for a period longer than a

day, to choose subjects who offer a varied perspective of a migrant entrepreneur in terms of

eatery size, region of origin, gender, and age.

In this phase, we will observe the interactions in the workplace – with customers,

employees, suppliers, relatives or family, and other associates. Phase 2 of the project is intended

to flesh out an understanding of entrepreneurship, investigating its social as well as economic

dimensions. We draw on an ethnographic approach, through which we want to illustrate the life

of a migrant entrepreneur. This process will build upon the findings that stood out in phase 1.

We want to be able to present a written documentary of the lives of the six individuals and for

them to tell us the story of their lives so that we may be able to present a personal account of the

life of a migrant entrepreneur. Their stories will be presented throughout this paper as



the types of restaurants the project investigates, talking to Mr. Boyce in Shanghai about the

restaurant industry in general provided great insight to the working class and the food industry.

As an upscale American-themed restaurant chain, Blue Frog caters to to a tier of the

population who can afford meals of at least

100 RMB per person, and expatriates and

foreigners alike who crave a classic

American meal with options such as steak,

burgers and fries, and pasta. The staff

consists of bilingual Chinese natives who

express, according to Mr. Boyce, a certain

―pride and company culture‖ in working for

the renowned chain. His restaurants adhere to the Chinese labor laws, which can be described as

a financial package deal strictly enforced by the government with the consideration of the

employee‘s well-being and financial future in mind. The labor laws have been nicknamed Sijin

("The Four Golds"), and are comprised of the Chinese equivalents of worker's compensation,

Figure 3: Online homepage of the Blue Frog restaurant chain.



The interview process for prospective Blue Frog employees first determines whether or

not an individual is qualified to work at the restaurant. Once employed, workers have the chance

to be promoted based upon performance and efficiency. Current staff largely contribute to the

hiring process by referring potential employees; if a current standout employee recommends an

individual for an open position, that individual has a better chance to obtain a position because of

the positive track record of the recommender.

Mr. Boyce takes pride in the fact that his restaurants serve as a ―stepping stone for bigger,

better things,‖ offering employees opportunities different to other restaurants. He gave the

example of Cotton Ding, a former waitress at his restaurant who, through determination and hard

work, rose through the ranks to eventually become a manager at one of the Blue Frog branches.

She then approached Mr. Boyce five years ago, and described to him her ambition to own a

restaurant similar to Blue Frog. Not only did Mr. Boyce support Cotton's aspirations, he even

assisted her in planning the basic framework for her restaurant. Today, a 1930‘s style villa in the

French Concession of Shanghai bears the name ―Cotton‘s‖ on the storefront, welcoming

customers in for drinks and a meal. Owning and managing an established restaurant and bar in



amongst the different migrants and regional identities. While this is one opinion among many

about the development of Shanghai's infrastructure and population, our data does not seem to

conform to Mr. Boyce's impressions.

IV. Off to the City - Field Work

By and large, our subjects were drawn from the hundreds of eateries concentrated along a

number of food streets, and various food vendors renting pushcarts scattered throughout the city.

In order to identify these food streets and to ascertain the safety of the various neighborhoods

and social classes, we again utilized the Brown network and contacted Jing Zhang ‘07, a member

of the Brown Club in China. After hearing the explanation of the project, he agreed that

migrants ―are indeed in such businesses

in big cities,‖ and added that ―it‘s

usually the first thing popping up in their

mind if they ever want to start on their

own. These businesses are characterized

by small size and distinctively low-



of our research resulted in a plethora of shipinjie that include Wujiang Road, Qipu Road,

Guangxi Road, Zhapu Road, Dingxi Road, and Huanghe Road. According to the information

online, the streets are celebrated for their vast variety of different types of xiaochi, from

Lanzhou, to Xinjiang, to Anhui, to Sichuan, and more.

Armed with prior knowledge of China and its cultural customs, Jing Zhang‘s words of

advice, and Bob Boyce‘s insight, the project officially commenced on June 10, 2009. We had

been mentally picturing and planning the interview, and how we would eventually approach the

owner of each respective eatery with the details of our project, modeling it very closely to the

methodology section.

On that day, we tested our initial modeled approach, making sure to take note of the

reaction and feedback the owner provided so that subsequent interviews will yield more effective

and detailed responses. The four of us

nervously walked at a solemn pace into a

Fujian restaurant, ordered bowls of their

noodle soup and a plate of special



many questions? It sounds like they're checking for hukou.‖ After that comment, she refused to

engage in additional conversation, and we ended up finishing our meals and leaving without

much information.

Upon reviewing this initial encounter, we noted a number of flaws in our approach:

- we nervously walked in with looks on our faces that were a little too inquisitive- four English-speaking students, taking turns asking questions can be very

intimidating- the conversation opening didn‘t flow; it was a very forced introduction

- awkward pauses didn‘t help the atmosphere of the interview- we asked questions incessantly

After this initial encounter, we revised the interview method by changing our attitude and

demeanor to reflect that of true foreign university students staying in China for the summer to

practice Chinese and learn about Chinese culture and customs. Instead of walking into each

eatery with an objective in mind, we walked into each eatery with curious, open-minds as to how

life in China is. Rather than bombard an eatery with four foreign students, we divided into teams

of two to appear less intimidating. Chinese would be used even when conversing with each

other, except for quick exchanges in English to ensure that both members are on the same page



suffering from a couple of minor mistakes and learning from what we did wrong in each

previous encounter, by the end of the second week we had created a polished approach that

successfully yielded the information we sought.

The script for each interview can be described as follows:

1. Order a specialty at the eatery and comment at the delectable taste2. "Where is the food from, are you from that area?"

3. "How long has this store been opened, how long have you been in Shanghai?"4. "How often do you go back? Do you have family back home?"

5. "This seems like a really busy area, how much does rent go for?"6. "Is all your staff from the same place? Are they friends/family of yours? Where

do they live?"

7. "Do you miss home? Was it hard leaving your laojia?"8. "What did you do before opening this restaurant?"

With our alternate approach, the atmosphere changed significantly: the sounds of

laughter, ―wah‘s,‖ and ―ah‘s‖ could be heard from outside the restaurant, while smiles, fierce

head nods, and eyes widening with surprise could be seen from within. They perceived us as

exactly who we were - American students curious about Shanghai's food culture, rather than

pushy, annoyingly inquisitive foreigners. At the end of the day we might be lucky enough to get

a couple kuai off the tab. However, not all encounters went as smoothly as planned. Prior to



street and conduct another interview. Unfortunately, there were streaks of reluctant and

unenthusiastic owners that resulted in no information, and, as desperate times call for desperate

measures, we ate two full meals within an hour and a half, given the small window of time that

we can talk to the owner one-on-one.

To ensure the undivided attention of each owner, we approached eateries at the off-hours

of 2pm – 5pm, right after lunch and before dinner. During these times, the eateries were less

crowded, and we often found ourselves

sitting side-by-side with the wait-staff. In

this atmosphere, the owners were not

particularly occupied, and were sometimes

seen reading the newspaper or playing

mahjong or card games with the staff.

Given the lack of other customers and the

fact that busy hours had passed, we easily

approached the owners. We found that about 65% of the time, the owner was indeed present at

Figure 6: An eatery owner looks around during non-busy hours.



from forty-one different subjects, and have tabulated the results. Throughout this paper, we will

reference the subjects according to their relevance to the topic of discussion; detailed information

about each subject can be found in the appendix.

Phase 2 of the project consisted of returning to the eateries where we felt an initially

strong relationship with a particular owner, and feeling comfortable enough to return to him/her

again to ask more personal questions. We chose six individuals with whom we developed a

positive and friendly connection to conduct phase 2 of the project. They opened up to us, told us

vivid stories of their trials and tribulations of being away from home, and the unique experience

of being a migrant entrepreneur in the bustling city of Shanghai.

V. Shanghai: International City, Multicultural Cuisines

Shanghai serves as a major financial capital of East Asia and currently ranks as one of the

largest cities in China, with an area of approximately 2450 square miles and a population of

approximately 20 million. Evidence of the

city‘s wealth is reflected in the statistic

that Shanghai singlehandedly contributes



Business ethics in Shanghai prove to be more stable and secure compared to other areas

of China. In about half the restaurants we visited, customers pay upfront right after ordering the

dishes, before the chefs even touch the ingredients, to ensure that payment is received.

According to Subject 33, the ―consumer ethic‖ in Shanghai restaurants is better than those in her

native Harbin, where returning customers expect tabs to be kept and corporations and

government workers anticipate special discounts. Giving in to the special discounts and allowing

tabs to grow into a significant amount pose considerable risks of money loss; both subtract from

the ability to manage a stable restaurant by negatively affecting the cash flow. Although a small

restaurant in Shanghai does not have the potential for great profits like the one in Harbin, she can

at least be assured that business is conducted with integrity and that the clients are more reliable

and trustworthy.

Shanghai boasts one of the largest populations in China, with the most recent count

nearly topping 20 million, meaning the entire population of Shanghai accounts for roughly 1.1%

of the population of China. According to

the city‘s population and family planning



Xinjiang. The vast number of provinces represented in such a small sample of the city's migrant

residents is evidence of Shanghai's diverse multi-regional population.

With such a varied migrant population, individuals still living in the provincial areas have

the advantage of contacting laoxiang if they choose to migrate to the city. Having the benefit of

contacting someone from one's laojia eases the transition, for there is a certain unspoken

connection and comforting aspect of cooperating with someone else who can call the same

region home. Moreover, individuals are more willing to assist laoxiang than individuals from a

differing province. In some cases, migrants have family members who are currently living in

Shanghai who they can call upon if they have questions about migrating. Family members or

friends who are already living in Shanghai may even encourage individuals to come to the city.

In several cases, a owner who already established a restaurant in Shanghai convinced his friend

to come to the city as well and start up a similar restaurant.

VI. The Appeal of the Restaurant Industry

For a considerable number of our subjects, entering the restaurant industry in Shanghai

meant leaving their previous, unrelated professions. Taking the leap from clothing wholesale



restaurant business, it is easier to make a comfortable living than entrepreneurship in another

industry.

Case Study: From Clothing to Cuisine

In the case of Subject 21, the owners and employees of this restaurant are natives of

Shenyang, Liaoning Province, in the north-eastern part of China. This restaurant has been open in

Shanghai for the past five years and serves Liaoning-style cuisine.

The restaurant area is comparatively large, with several private rooms apart from the

general seating area. The rent is 38 000 RMB per month, and according to the owner it is a

relatively low price, as they signed the ten-year-long lease contract five years ago. A similar place

now, he says, would cost about 50 000 RMB per month in rent.

All employees at the restaurant are from Shenyang, and are all housed nearby in rooms

rented by the owner. During off-peak hours in the afternoon, most of the staff return to their

lodging to nap and rest, leaving just the owner (or his wife) and one wait-staff to stay at the

restaurant. If there are customers, the owner makes a phone call to the employees’ living

quarters and a chef will arrive at the restaurant to prepare the food within a few minutes. The

male and female staff are housed in separate quarters to prevent discomfort and official



The client base for this business consists mostly of customers who live around the area,

and a large majority of them are not originally from Shanghai. The owner claims that the

Shanghainese are not used to the taste of north-eastern style cooking. He admits that some

dishes that are typical of Liaoning cuisine cannot find a market in Shanghai because they are too

uncommon. Silkworm shells, for example, are popular and common in northern and north-

eastern China, but the prospect

of eating bugs does not appeal to

those in the south. Names of

other dishes also need to be

changed to be more descriptive

in order to market to a local

customer base, as many of them

originate from regional dialects

and anecdotes that other parts of

China are unfamiliar with.

However, he refuses to localize and change the recipes for the menu because customers are

l ki f th ti ki d t thi f i With thi i i d th t t t i t

Figure 9: Pictures of Shenyang specialties, including the

silkworm shells, are posted on the wall of the restaurant.



equipment) are fixed in advance and much smaller, and revenue is generated by the end of every

day between shopping for ingredients in the morning and the customers that come in during the

day. He was encouraged by some local Shanghainese friends to open a restaurant in Shanghai.

They return home every two months or so to visit family and also for business. The

couple have a twelve-year-old daughter back in Shenyang who is being taken care of by her

grandparents. It is difficult for her to move to Shanghai, as the education system in China dictates

that students must complete the last two years of high school in the city/province of their hukou.

There is an increase of north-eastern waidiren moving to Shanghai, but there has yet to

be an established tongxianghui in Shanghai. The owner says this is because most migrants

already have a community of friends and family, and relationships are formed informally through

these circles and not through a formalized organization.

Some migrants arrive in Shanghai to join friends or family and help to develop or expand

their existing restaurant businesses. With their friend's or family member's recommendation and

support (financial or otherwise), entrepreneurs set up restaurants either independently or as

another branch of an existing restaurant sponsored by their laoxiang. Thus, they can enter the

industry with relative ease and already have an extensive support network to help them with their



advantage of both local and tourist

interest in regional cuisines to

showcase their hometowns‘ particular

fengwei. Some even go so far as to

showcase a fengwei cuisine that is not

of their hometown: Subject 26, an

Anhui native, opened a northern-style

hotpot restaurant because he believes

that consumers‘ curiosity alone for

fengwei not commonly found in Shanghai will draw them to his place. Others uphold their

cuisine as a bastion for their region: Subject 22 insists on advertising Shaanxi dishes using their

original names, even if they are unfamiliar to Shanghainese visitors, to foster an authentic

understanding of the restaurant‘s food culture.

For migrants who come with authentic, novel, non-local recipes, opening a restaurant is

the perfect way to attract business in Shanghai. Our subjects still find that it is sometimes hard

Figure 10: An advertisement for Harbin beer also designating

the entrance to the Huanghe Road food street.



her restaurant's authenticity with a simple sentence in large lettering on the restaurant window:

实实在在的东北人 shishizaizai de dongbei ren ([the restaurant is run by] truly authentic people

from Dongbei).

To some younger entrepreneurs, the prospect of encountering internationalized, diverse

restaurant-goers is an exciting motivation that could lead to a chance for them to better

popularize their regional cuisines. Subject 39 was able to obtain a "hawker" food business license

in Singapore with the help of a Singaporean friend he had met working in Henan Noodle

restaurants in Shanghai. The restaurant industry leaves a lot of room for successful entrepreneurs

to expand their businesses by opening more restaurant branches, and to bring their homes‘

fengwei to other parts of China and the world.

VII. The Influence of Laoxiang and the Resulting Preferential Employment and Restaurant

Sub-Communities

The restaurants of our subjects are typically small — just a single seating room. During the

off-peak hours in which we conduct our research, the staff (waiters and chefs) take a break from

their work and eat together at the restaurant. If there are customers, one or two of the staff get up



The owners are heavily involved in the day-to-day operation of their restaurants. Some of

them are chefs as well as managers, and

most prefer to personally take care of any

deliveries and any accounting. Subject 13

even takes it on herself to stand outside to

try to draw passers-by into the restaurant,

rather than delegating this simple task to

an employee. In some cases, especially

during off-peak hours, the owners serve

food to the customers themselves.

Another common characteristic that holds true for most of the migrant-owned restaurants

in Shanghai is the employment of laoxiang. But being laoxiang with the boss is not the sole

criterion for employment in these restaurants – more often than not, the employees were

somehow acquainted with the boss in their hometown, are members of the owner‘s extended

family, or are ―friends of friends‖. Laoxiang come to Shanghai with the guarantee of

Figure 11: Restaurant staff lounge around during non-busy

hours, waiting for customers to enter.



The employees live together and work together as a team, enhancing the work environment and

the community within by ensuring that the workers are comfortable with each other.

Although it can be sometimes difficult to recruit workers from a far away part of China in

Shanghai, there are definitely benefits for restaurant-owners to hire laoxiang as employees. The

laoxiang preference does not seem to stem from discrimination against other migrants of

different origins. Rather, the laoxiang hiring policy works as a merit-based or credibility-based

system, where someone back home can

vouch for a particular potential employee.

As mentioned before, the laoxiang criterion

itself does not guarantee the job position, as

a new employee often must come with

recommendations from someone the owner

trusts. With a predetermined community of

laoxiang wait-staff, it is difficult to

introduce an outsider into the environment.Figure 12: Co-workers talk and laugh as they make the Lanzhou

hand-pulled noodles.



employability outside of the particular restaurant.

While this is the case for many small restaurants, others have more open policies: for

example, Subject 37 has hired a number of laoxiang who ask for a job with no prior

recommendations. They happened to be in Shanghai and worked locally as mingong for several

years, and after talking with the owner we got the impression that they are fed up with the

unstable working conditions of factories and hard labor. This restaurant has had laoxiang come

to ask for employment when they saw the familiar signs advertising their home cuisine. Since the

restaurant of Subject 37 has been open for only two months, the owner welcomes the laoxiang's

ambition and enthusiasm.

Above all, the inclination to hire laoxiang stems from familiarity, not just with the owner,

but also with the region's dialect, the customs, and the cuisine. Hiring an outsider necessitates

familiarizing the new employee with the fengwei, and the dialects between two different towns,

even within the same provinces, are often mutually unintelligible. In general, apart from any

initial difficulty of employing or replacing laoxiang workers, it is easier and more economically

and logistially efficient for restaurant owners to hire laoxiang.



The subjects that hire wait-staff outside of their home community can be categorized in

two groups: restaurants run by migrants that do not serve the particular cuisine of the owner‘s

region, and restaurants that are particularly successful. For the former, while the community

among the wait-staff might not be as strong, there is no necessity to know the particular dialect,

or be extremely familiar with the cuisine beforehand. In addition, seeking out laoxiang can be a

difficult task, particularly if the owner is from a relatively distant province. It is much easier to

find a set of wait-staff when the sole criterion f or employment is simply ―hard workers.‖

For the latter, however, it is a different scenario: while they still often prefer to hire

laoxiang, several restaurants seemed to have reached a threshold where the employment of

relative ―outsiders‖ is not much of a risk, financial or otherwise. In these cases, the interviews,

references, and various other bureaucratic

elements seem more formal than those of

other restaurants. It also seems that an

opportunity for employment at more

successful restaurants is much sought-after by



While the criteria for employment of wait-staff is flexible depending on the conditions of

the restaurant and its employees, there is no such flexibility for the chefs. An overwhelming

majority of subjects strictly employ chefs from the region of their specialty cuisines – even local

Shanghainese who decide to open a fengwei restaurant know to employ an authentic ― fengwei

chef.‖ Subject 32, a local who decided to open a Shaoxing cuisine restaurant, mentioned that he

had to travel to Shaoxing himself and perform extensive research to find a truly authentic,

superior chef to recruit for his restaurant.

One particular owner, Subject 21, mentioned other common traits for fengwei chefs –

most tend to have studied under a renowned chef, are over 40, and if married, their children are

now adults. This, as the subject explains, minimizes the risk for various reasons: while it is quite

a burden to find new laoxiang wait-staff, losing a chef would mean losing not only the

authenticity, but the specific fengwei that the customers have come to recognize. Thus,

employing a chef who has already settled down in terms of both family and occupation, does not

need to return home often, and no longer has the burden of raising a child, reduces the risk for a

restaurant owner who cannot afford to find a new chef on short notice.



Hiring only men also saves the restaurant owner the cost of renting an entire separate room for

the female staff. Even in Hui Muslim Lanzhou restaurants, the only women staff members are

family of the owner. Most of the Lanzhou restaurants we visited were run and operated almost

entirely by a single family, indicating that prospect of moving one‘s entire family to Shanghai is

probably more enticing than simply sending one‘s daughter off to work with fellow laoxiang.

In almost all scenarios, one finds the owner of the restaurant just as involved in these

close-knit communities of staff. Many seem to treat themselves as peers among their small

community, performing just as much manual labor and being just as chatty as their employees.

One particular subject, Subject 13, works intensively to attract customers, standing directly

outside her restaurant and announcing its specialty cuisines to passersby - a chore usually

reserved for an employee. It seems that in many cases, with the help of the laoxiang

connections, the cohabitation circumstances, and the chats on off-hours, a single restaurant can

form a solid community among its staff, a community in which the boss presents himself as a

peer, or to put it in better terms, a friend.

VIII. Factors Influencing Rent Costs



those located on the more remote streets

such as Qipu Road. Moreover, official

food streets such as Wujiang Road and

Huanghe Road charge higher rent than

seemingly outdated food streets such as

Zhapu Road. Take the food street Qipu

Road, which has organically taken shape

around massive wholesale markets that have

been built in 2003. However, rent still pales in comparison to the official shipinjie because of its

location away from the central business district and the different type of clientele. On the same

food street, rent tends to be lower as the restaurant's location gets further away from the main

road or a nearby subway station. As far as the size of each restaurant is concerned, Lao Sheng

Chang, for example, a two-floor chain restaurant that is five times bigger than the eight-table

Shaxian restaurant one block down on Zhapu Road, pays four times more for rent each year.

However, the date the lease was signed plays an important role in rent, sometimes even

Figure 14: A typical day on the Nanjing Pedestrian Street.



street of nothing" at that time, with five years of prepaid rent. In 2007, Shanghai Wednesday did

a report on the current gentrification projects, and mentioned that "back then [in 2000], all the

landlords on Wujiang Road were worried about not being able to lease their properties." In

2003, the Chinese media began a trend of extolling regional cuisine, which allowed the business

for all restaurants on Wujiang Road to bloom. The amount of people passing by Wujiang Road

that year reached 10,000 per hour on average. Meanwhile, the prices of the housing market

quietly started to soar. Subject 12 resolutely renewed his lease contract for another two years in

advance with the fortune he had made. Hence, Subject 12 has developed a close enough

relationship with his landlord, which allows

him to negotiate his own rent. Therefore,

Subject 12 is still able to be paying a much

lower rent than most other restaurant

owners on this bustling street.

In brief, when waidiren want to

open a restaurant in big and unfamiliar



Prior to opening their respective restaurants, the owners had to have done something to

prepare themselves for the hectic environment of a busy restaurant and to be able to handle the

pressures of directing a staff of chefs and wait-staff. Although we received mixed replies when

we asked what the owners had done before overseeing their restaurants, their prior endeavors

nevertheless endowed them with essential skills and experience that contributed to their success.

Subject 30 opened a restaurant in Shenzhen for four years, and when asked why she

choose to come to Shanghai, she replied that an urban city such as Shanghai has more people,

more money, and is easier to attract customers. However, just being in a lively city doesn‘t

guarantee a successful eatery, and having the experience of opening a restaurant in another city

allowed him to sidestep many pitfalls that first-time restaurant owners might suffer. Similarly,

Subject 19 moved from Dongbei to Shanghai to share her talent of making rice cakes to a larger

population. She differs from other subjects in that she herself is both the owner and master chef,

but she still succeeds her skill and previous experience to capitalize on the Shanghai food

market.

Similar to Subject 30, Subject 20 opened a restaurant in Hunan for six years before



specialty that features an assortment of

meat and vegetables on top of rice cooked

with special spices. He truly embodies the

entrepreneurial spirit and hopes to attract

curious customers by offering a new

concept that the food market has not seen.

By offering it in a city with such a

welcoming food culture, he hopes the

residents of Shanghai will recognize his

efforts at developing a new signature dish.

Subjects 15 and 20 both initially came to Shanghai to enter the fashion industry,

respectively selling leather goods and designing her own line of clothing. When both of these

ventures failed, they turned to an alternative industry with which they were both familiar: food.

It‘s important to note that neither returned to their respective provinces, nor did they take up a

job working for someone and shy away from the opportunity to become an owner. Both subjects

Figure 16: The Gansu bamboo basket specialty created by

Subject 9.



Migration and residential policies in Shanghai make it hard for anyone without a

Shanghai hukou to stay in the city long-term. As a result, most of our subjects do not have the

means, financially or otherwise, to reside permanently in Shanghai, and have planned their

businesses according to these limitations. Shanghai is a place to work, to develop a business and

to make money, but not necessarily a feasible place to settle down for our subjects.

In order to determine the identity of a migrant entrepreneur, we created interview

questions such as ―how long have you been in Shanghai?‖ and ―do you return to your laojia

often?‖. Despite living in Shanghai for an extended period of time, the vast majority of our

subjects hesitate to claim that they are entirely a part of Shanghainese society. Understandably,

when we take into consideration their work with fengwei cuisines and restaurants staffed by

laoxiang, many still identify themselves with their laojia. In their restaurant environments, where

it is possible to be immersed in food and dialects from their laojia, there is a constant reminder

that they still stand apart from their Shanghainese counterparts.

Some subjects need to make frequent trips back and forth for business purposes —

contacting suppliers, hiring new staff members and continually developing guanxi within their



Shanghai community and to learn the local dialect. However, she feels a deep attachment to her

original identity as a member of the Yangzhou countryside.

Our subjects find it difficult to remain permanently in Shanghai while raising a family.

Subject 6 and her husband have a six-year-old son who lives back in Harbin with his

grandparents. The couple have only had their business for six months, and they would have no

time to take care of their son in Shanghai, even if he does come to live with them. This is typical

of many of our subjects — it is financially and logistically hard to bring a child to Shanghai, and

even those who manage to bring younger children to Shanghai need to send them back for them

to take their high school examinations. Without a hukou in Shanghai, it is difficult for

schoolchildren to receive a good education, and thus many migrants opt to leave their children

back home with other members of their family.

With a large part of their families back in their laojia, and with their businesses built on

their identity as migrants qualified to promote their respective fengwei, our subjects must

maintain a heavy connection to their laoxiang and laojia. Laoxiang from the same parts of China

tend to seek each other out and gather together to create social communities in Shanghai even if



of Shanghai as their new and stable homes. Subject 39, on the other hand, definitely prefers his

new lifestyle to living in his laojia of rural Henan. He, like many other young rural mingong, left

home at an early age to try their luck as laborers in China‘s big cities, and believes that there

isn‘t much room to grow nor any opportunities to work at anything meaningful in the

countryside. He would like to be able to stay permanently in Shanghai and expand his business

now that he has been comfortably familiar with this city for many years. Furthermore, he is too

busy to miss home. Now, it would be hard for him to return to his laojia and continue the life he

used to lead before.

XI. Deviations and Exceptions to the Model

Of course, for all the restaurants and owners that bear these common traits, there are a

number of specific deviations from these models. One such deviation is Subject 13, who is the

one of the few interviewees in this study to have successfully obtained a Shanghai hukou, despite

being a waidiren. Her restaurant has occupied a cozy little two-floor space on Wujiang Road for

15 years, long before the street became a famous shipinjie. As a result, she enjoys a

comparatively low rent of 40,000 RMB per month. For years, her shop has enjoyed a steady



more recent hukou restrictions, she and her husband easily obtained a local hukou, allowing her

children to attend Shanghai public schools, and guaranteeing decent retirement packages for

herself and her husband.

Despite this transformation of her legal identity, Subject 13 still seems to hold steadfast

to her ties in Jiangsu: she and her mother, who run the business together, speak constantly in

their native tongue, and she still refers to herself as a Jiangsuren. While there is a certain

element of pride that comes with obtaining a hukou and becoming a true Shanghai citizen, this

Yangzhou native still retains her Jiangsu heritage.

Case study: The "New Shanghainese"

Subject 16 hails from rural Anhui, a province relatively close to Shanghai. He entered

the mingong wave at the age of 15, with the combined ambitions of traveling around China and

making more money than he could at home. He found himself in areas all over China,

performing odd-jobs in areas ranging from Inner Mongolia to Shandong. It was in Shandong that

he met his future wife, with whom he now has a six-year-old daughter and a young son.

Nine years ago, he found himself a job manufacturing car parts in Shanghai. After two

years on the assembly line he became fed up with the tedium and decided to try his luck in



When asked about the reason for marketing a type of fengwei that does not belong to

his home province, the owner explained his marketing tactic – to provide a type of fengwei that

is hard to come by in the city of Shanghai. Places in Shanghai that specialize in shuanyangrou are

few and far between, and this owner’s goal for the five years that the restaurant has been open

has been to break into the Shanghai food industry and be one the first to provide these particular

northern dishes.

As a result, the pursuit of laoxiang employees is not a concern for this specific owner –

by marketing dishes that are not part of his own native cuisine, this owner’s criteria for

employees does not include the laoxiang preference. Thus, the pool of potential employees is

increased manifold, and range from local Shanghai residents to mingong from other regional

backgrounds.

Nowadays, Subject 16 enjoys a steady level of return customers, seeking all sorts of

northern cuisine. After being in Shanghai for so many years, especially as such an integrated

member of the society and workforce, he is comfortable enough here to call himself

Shanghainese. He is proud that he has come so far from his rural mingong days and owning his

own place is a clear indicator of his success in Shanghai after leaving home more than fifteen

years ago. His wife still resides in Shandong with their two children. The family only gets a few



bendiren (a large risk for a small business, which in any other case would have to guarantee the

Sijin package, but such benefits are waived in exchange for the job opportunity). He has, as far as

we can tell, become "Shanghainese," outwardly indistinguishable from the local population. Still,

one obstacle remains that prevents him from moving his entire family to the city -- the hukou

system. Without a Shanghai hukou, this Anhui native has no guarantee that his kids will receive

the opportunities that come with a Shanghai education, that he can guarantee for his business,

or even himself and his family, the government subsidies that typically apply to a Shanghai

native. In terms of business, this particular subject is a success story: a migrant who, after years

of toil in low-paying jobs, ascends to the rank of a business owner. Whether he himself and his

family continue to prosper is all dependent on the fluctuating flexibility of the Shanghai hukou

system.

XII. Locals Establishing Fengwei Restaurants

Similarly, not all eateries that offer a selection of regional cuisine are natives to the areas.

A woman outside a well-furnished eatery near the Qipu Road markets called out to us as we

sought a place to conduct our research one day. Posters on the window displayed Japanese sushi,

Korean bimbimbop, and Chinese rice dishes. Curious as to what she type of cuisine she



with a new age twist. She highly recommended the guilingggao with ice cream as well as the

steamed mango milk pudding.

The women turned out to be a Shanghai native and the owner of the restaurant, and when

we commented on the welcoming décor and the ingenuity of her menu, she said she wanted to

develop a menu that caters to young people because they ―are willing to spend money.‖ By

paying attention not only to taste but to presentation of the food and atmosphere of the

restaurant, she believes she can attract the young crowd and establish her restaurant as a new

hang-out spot for that group. She might represent a new age of small-eatery owners who are

evolving their business strategies to target a specific customer base.

Another exception to the general model is particularly interesting, as it is a pair of

fengwei restaurants owned by a local Shanghainese boss. The boss shares no laoxiang

connection with either his food, which is of Shaoxing origin, or his chefs, which are all Shaoxing

natives. Even considering the fact that the

vast amount of his employees are either

bendiren or waidiren who are not native to



Shanghai native knows that authenticity is the key to a successful restaurant business model.

XIII. The Customs and Practices of Muslim Restaurants

Another deviation from the common model holds true for not just one particular

restaurant, but in fact the plethora of restaurants that call themselves ―Xinjiang fengwei‖ and

―Lanzhou fengwei.‖ Both types of restaurants are solely committed to employing their own kind,

although the definition of ―own kind‖ seems to differ between the two groups: while Xinjiang

restaurants seem to strictly employ male Xinjiang migrants, Lanzhou restaurants accept both

Lanzhou and Xinjiang natives (male and female) as employees. The most significant criterion

for Lanzhou restaurants appears to be the common Muslim heritage, while Xinjiang restaurants

adhere to the strict policy of hiring only fellow Xinjiang migrants ( laoxiang, as previously

mentioned).

There are several possible explanations for this phenomenon: while the numbers are not

exactly clear, it appears that there is a significantly larger number of unemployed Xinjiang

Uighur migrants than Lanzhou Huizu migrants. Thus, for a Lanzhou restaurant owner, it might

be significantly cheaper to hire Uighur migrants, who will likely work for lower wages, than it



Xinjiang migrants. While it is unclear why this policy is so widely enforced, one factor may be

the aforementioned one: the large proportion of unemployed Uighur migrants relative to those

from Lanzhou. In examining a number of Xinjiang restaurants, it appears that the Uighur

population tends to protect their own kind, and while Huizu and Uighur migrants share the

common Muslim ―identity,‖ we have not seen one single Huizu employee in a Xinjiang fengwei

restaurant.

On the other hand, Lanzhou restaurants more often than not forbade alcohol consumption

in their restaurants (their menus are often branded with

―伊斯兰教习俗，外菜莫入，禁止饮酒，谢谢合作!‖ or ―As per Islamic customs, do not bring

outside food, and it is forbidden to drink alcohol, thank you for your cooperation!‖). Not a single

Xinjiang restaurant we visited had similar policies towards alcohol, and in fact marketed their

own regional beer, ―Sinkiang‖. It is hard to say whether these policies and business decisions

stem more from religious or financial concerns, but the restaurants' respective laoxiang

communities blend to a certain extent – they all frequent the same mosque on Changde Road,

where both Uighurs and Huizu migrants bond over their common religious practices.



considers Shanghai to be her home, yet she has inevitably kept a deep sentimental connection

with her Uighur roots.

Her story is an exceptional case — so few Xinjiang migrants have become as integrated

into the Shanghai society as she is. Arriving in Shanghai alone (and without a laoxiang

community) so many years ago presented her with the daunting challenge to assimilate into

Shanghai and its workforce, which she was able to do successfully, while still maintaining ties to

her home and the speciality fengwei that her culture has to offer. She will soon pass the

ownership and management of her restaurant to her nephews, who are new to Shanghai but can

easily familiarize themselves with the city with her help. The restaurant operates as any other

Xinjiang family business, but stands out from the rest by its localization.

XIV. Hiring a Manager: The Implications of Managerial Staff

Another rare deviation from the majority of our subjects is the presence of a manager, or

someone who assumes the managerial duties while the owner is away from the restaurant.

Sometimes the duties for these managers are minimal, only filling the position while the owner is

not present, and otherwise working as part of the wait-staff. In other cases, such as that of



It is unclear whether the owner‘s decision to employ a family member came out of

interest in providing his sister with a job opportunity, or simply because she was a particularly

trustworthy laoxiang. Either way, the sister packed her bags and headed off to Shanghai, helping

to manage the restaurant while the owner set up his second and third restaurants (which,

unfortunately, were also forced by the local government to shut down), then eventually

becoming the full-time manager of the Wujiang Road branch.

The case contrasts sharply with Subject 22, who decided to hire a manager outside of his

laoxiang community. The manager is a Jiangsu native who spent a number of years in a

vocational school for restaurant management, but could not find a decent management position at

the time. He spent several years in various other industries – ―whatever job I can get‖ – before

eventually being introduced to Subject 22 by a friend. The mutual friend recommended him as a

potential manager for the restaurant, and after an interview and several other bureaucratic steps,

he became a Jiangsu manager of a Shaanxi restaurant.

There are significant advantages that come with hiring workers who do not share a

laoxiang connection with the owner. While the owner is also himself an outsider, his laojia,



maintenance. Moreover, the manager, unlike the wait-staff, has his own apartment, so the

financial burden on the boss is significantly less. Had he called for a manager in Xi‘an to come

all the way to Shanghai, he certainly would have had to provide living accommodations.

In both cases mentioned (Subjects 12 and 22), their respective businesses were highly

successful. While there were some other minor cases of ―management‖ positions in other

restaurants, the manager was either an exceptional and trustworthy member of the wait-staff, or a

family member who simply needed a job. For Subjects 12 and 22, the employment of a true

manager is a clear indication of ascending the ranks in the restaurant business, and becoming

more than a small-time business venture.

XV. Legal Eateries VS. Illegal Street-Food

At night, street-food stands appear along Shanghai‘s busy streets. These stands are owned

and run by vendors preparing and selling food from portable carts. The most common of these

street stands sell chuanr , bamboo skewers

of meat and vegetables cooked over a

charcoal grill, while other stands sell



Case Study: Entrepreneurs on the Street

Subject 11 dropped out of school when he was fifteen years old and came to Shanghai

from Henan by himself. He was first illegally employed by a Sichuan restaurant as a gofer, and

ran errands for all the staff in the restaurant, mainly the chefs. “I was young and didn’t have any

skills,” admitted Subject 11, “but I soon learned a lot about cooking Sichuan food after spending

every day in the kitchen.” He then spent the next four years working as a chef in different

regional restaurants, and refined his cooking skills with a variety of fengwei , including

Shanghainese, Cantonese and Dongbei cuisines. “It’s not that hard if you already know some

basic cooking. They [different regional cuisines] are pretty much the same except for the

seasoning.”

Two years ago, Subject 11 was inspired by street stands and decided to start his own

business by selling something easy and tasty at night. When asked why he entered street-food

market, he said that he wanted “a more flexible schedule and more freedom.” During the

Chinese New Year break that year, he went back home and and had a laoxiang teach him how to

make the Henan specialty

of fried noodles. He

purchased a cart that comes



corner of Tianyaoqiao Road and Nandan East Road in one of the busiest districts in Shanghai, his

business quickly became popular, with a high proportion of returning customers. His father came

to Shanghai a year ago to help him out and to make deliveries to nearby customers. At the price

of 5RMB per box of fried rice or noodles, Subject 11 makes about 400RMB (60USD) on a bad

night and more than 800RMB (120USD) on a good one.

Subject 40 came from Xinjiang about a year ago and sells his xiaochi on the same street

corner as Subject 11. Likewise, his stand is remodeled from a pushing cart, and has space for

about twenty choices of chuanr (meat/vegetable/seafood-on-a-stick), a few bottles of basic

seasoning and one long grill rack. He and his wife also own a motorcycle that holds a big

styrofoam box of raw materials. Subject 40 and 11 seemed to have developed a friendly

partnership. Not only do their stands share the same sitting space for customers (Subject 40

usually keeps a foldable table on the side of his cart and Subject 11 pulls out the chairs from

behind his grill), the business owners also sit together when business is slow (after 2am), bonding

over liquor and cigarettes. At times when no customers stop by, they cook fried noodles and

chuanr for each other as late-night snacks. Other street vendors selling puzzles, books or bags

also set up stands at this corner occasionally, and would always receive some free late-night

snacks from Subjects 11 and 40.



police inspectors do their rounds in the neighborhood. If any vendors are found, their cart, food

and merchandise are all confiscated, and will be fined by the Department of City Regulation.

When we further asked Subject 11 about the risk, he disclosed that he has a friend in the

Department of City Regulation who provides him with relatively accurate warnings right before

each inspection. On these days, he waits until the inspections have stopped before setting up for

the night. For the times that the inspectors make unexpected visits, Subject 11 is no amateur,

“I’m not scared of the inspectors. If anything, I can just get on the bicycle and ride away. *What

they do to you] depends on your attitude when handling the situation and the inspectors’ mood

at the time.”

During our fieldwork, we witnessed the father of Subject 11 helped warn other street

vendors by going down Tianyaoqiao Road on his motorcycle. But it was still too late for Subject

40. He then ran down the street pulling his cart in an unsuccessful attempt to escape from the

inspectors. When the inspectors caught up to him, he argued with them to let him keep the cart,

but it was confiscated for a few days and the business was set back for about a week. During the

second inspection we witnessed, two inspectors jumped out of an ordinary white van and

surprise-attacked vendors on the other side of the street while Subject 11 quickly fled on his cart.

Vendors do not seem to face very harsh punishments if they are caught doing business—usually,



poultry for about 15RMB per whole duck or chicken, which she carries in a big barrel all the

way from Pudong District everyday (it takes about 1.5 hours by public transportation). On an

average day, about thirty to forty poultry are sold, and that makes a raw profit of 900 to

1200RMB per day. ―I have been here for 16 years. I don‘t take days off unless it‘s Spring

Festival, not even if it‘s raining. All the nearby residents know me. They like my food and most

importantly, they know that it‘s clean.‖

According to Subject 23, about 90% of her

customers are returning customers. A stable

and decent income allowed Subject 23 to

purchase a house in Pudong district, and

because of timing, her family was able to

get a lanyin hukou and now it has been

naturalized to a regular Shanghai hukou.

Her son now goes to high school in Pudong,

and is guaranteed the advantage of being able to attend the national college-entry exam in

Figure 21: An illegal stand selling seasoned chicken and ducks

pulls in ~1200RMB daily.



XVI. Franchising, Expansion, and Government Endorsement

As mentioned earlier, Subject 9 claims he developed the increasingly popular Gansu

specialty of using a small bamboo basket to serve a medley of meat, vegetables, and rice.

Although having been in the Shanghai‘s food market for ten years, he just recently opened a new

eatery featuring this specialty. In the coming years, he plans to market and increase the exposure

of the Gansu bamboo basket specialty by opening more stores in Shanghai, and if successful,

eventually franchise his store name within the city.

In such a fast-paced and constantly changing market like Shanghai, the goal of

franchising a restaurant may seem ambitious and impossible to achieve, but an eatery by the

name of Lao Sheng Chang has already realized the aspirations of Subject 9. Lao Sheng Chang

initially started in Suzhou as a state-owned restaurant chain, operating as a public entity until a

number of wealthy businessmen bought

out the entirety of the eateries. They

privatized the chain to resemble a

corporation, creating a board of directors



of xiaochi already in the city. The authentic Suzhou cuisine was well-received by the people in

Shanghai due to its affordable menu and similarities to Shanghainese cuisine. As of the summer

of 2009, twenty Lao Sheng Chang branches exist in the city, with the newest addition having

open for just two months on the famous shipinjie, Zhapu Road.

If successful, the idea of franchising a restaurant offers many advantages compared to

having a single eatery. According to a Google Maps search, 560 McDonald‘s exist in Shanghai

alone; the red and yellow M can be seen in practically every district that features a decent

amount of foot traffic. On the famous Nanjing Road, not one but three McDonald‘s cater to

hungry shoppers, and even a fourth one exists in the vicinity on a side street. The model of the

McDonald‘s franchise is simple: consistently serve decent-priced, quality, good-tasting food not

further than a couple of subway stops away, and people will come. Take a peek inside a

McDonald‘s at any hour of the day, and one can see that the number of customers ordering and

sitting down is a testament to the success of

the franchise.

Although operating on a much



will always have the same delicious soup inside. Customers have certain expectations associated

with the service and quality of a particular eatery's food, and if a franchise meets those

expectations and develops a large following, frequent business such as that seen in McDonald‘s

and witnessed in Lao Sheng Chang will most certainly follow.

Although not officially a corporate franchise, Lanzhou hand-pulled noodle eateries in

Shanghai all sport the same blue sign that reads ― Lanzhou Niurou Lamian Guan.”

In 2007, the

Lanzhou government approved this theme to nationally represent any official hand-pulled noodle

restaurant that opens in China. The method of hand-pulling noodles from fresh dough is a

special technique that originated from Lanzhou, and having this special branding confirms that

the Lanzhou government has accepted the eatery as an authentic hand-pulled noodle

establishment for operation. In a way, the numerous blue signs seen in Shanghai and other

Chinese cities function comparably to a franchise in the way that they distinctively indicate

eateries from Lanzhou. The only difference is that the government sees no profit by granting

these eateries use of the blue sign, and are simply promoting the special noodles.

Shaxian eateries generally feature rice dishes with various poultry parts marinated in a



report about Shaxian cuisine, specifically

commenting that having the Shaxian

Xiaochi symbol indicates government

approval of the hygiene and general

management of each particular eatery.

For the 5000 Shaxian eateries in Shanghai,

business boomed after the CCTV special.

Although not a franchise, having the

Shaxian logo results in effects similar to

having an established name such as McDonald‘s or a government‘s stamp of approval like the

Lanzhou sign. Repetitive exposure to a particular logo or brand name allows the customer to

infer a particular standard that they have come to expect when they enter the respective eatery,

and creates an organization that is everything but a franchise.

XVII. Government Gentrification Projects and Its Impact on Shanghai Food Culture

Figure 24: The menu inside a Shaxian restaurant features the

Shaxian Delicacies symbol on the upper left corner.



At that time, Shanghai offered a fraction of the variety of xiaochi that exists today, and

she saw the business opportunity of providing a different type of regional cuisine to the varied

population of Shanghai. Subject 12 proceeded to search for a suitable restaurant space, and

settled upon taking over from a baozi eatery on Wujiang Road. At that time, five or six

restaurants at most occupied spaces on the two-block pedestrian street. Luckily for her, six

months after serving her first Cantonese dish the government deemed Wujiang Road as an

official shipinjie to display the varietty of xiaochi that exists in Shanghai. The proclamation led to

an influx of new eateries as well as the most important factor of a restaurant: customers.

Wujiang Road became the new hotspot for different types of xiaochi as it attracted hundreds of

thousands of both locals and foreigners alike, and as a result business boomed for this Cantonese

restaurant due to the increased foot traffic.

The restaurant layout consists of three rectangular tables that can each seat six people,

and a series of small tables that can seat a total of ten. Although a bit cramped, the wait staff

had no trouble navigating back and forth from the kitchen. Even with the increased foot traffic,

one would not expect a lot of business out of such a small store, but the owner claimed that

“money is earned where you don’t see it.” She further explained that average customer turnover

rate is about twenty minutes,



up.

In fact, the business became so profitable over the years that the owner earned enough

money to start an upscale Cantonese restaurant in the lively Xujiahui district of Shanghai as well

as purchase a 2,000,000RMB apartment. As one of the first upscale Cantonese eateries in

Shanghai, this new venture successfully earned enough capital to open a third high-end

restaurant in Shanghai. In about seven years time, a clothes-designer from Guangdong dived

headfirst into the food industry, and is now reaping the benefits of selecting a new

entrepreneurial endeavor.

In 2007, she followed through with a most ambitious venture by opening a large, three-

story Cantonese restaurant in Hangzhou modeled after her upscale restaurants in Shanghai.

Unfortunately the restaurant failed miserably and ended up closing within three months, costing

her a total of 5,000,000RMB. She had hired a manager in Hangzhou to direct the restaurant

according to detailed specifications, but his lack of responsibility resulted in the failure and

eventual closing of the restaurant. It’s important to note that hired help may disregard their

duties without the pressure and presence of the owner. Employees without a more explicit and

tangible connection with the success of the company, that is those that only receive a wage or

salary, might only exert the least amount of effort required of them.



The government has called for a complete facelift on what remains of Wujiang Road by

taking apart the remaining half of the street, along which the myriad xiaochi eateries are still

located. To further exacerbate the problems of Subject 12, her restaurant regrettably lies on this

street, which will no longer be open for public access in two months' time. The other half of this

street has become the ―Wujiang Road

Leisure Street,‖ and serves as a walkway

between two modern, newly constructed

plazas featuring many globally and locally

recognized brands such as 85, Starbucks,

Dairy Queen, and Beard Papa. The

original Wujiang Road boasted two blocks

filled with food selections from regions all

over China, served out of storefronts and

pushcarts on the street, but now only half remains. The plan is to continue the trend of the

leisure street on the remaining portion of the road by constructing a five-star hotel and an office

Figure 26: The famous food street has now been deemed as a

"leisure street."



Cleaners brought in high pressure hoses and a powerful cleaning agent to wash off the layers of

oil that had accumulated through the years. Now, fed up with the lack of effort and cooperation

from store owners to keep the street clean,

and especially fed up with the filth and the

negative image the street brings upon the

city, city officials have made the decision to

shut down the whole street, with

gentrification of the area in mind.

Yet, this decision by the city

government to tear down a dirty, oil-covered

street in Shanghai has been met with mixed

opinions. Some individuals take pride in

Wujiang Road as a shipinjie unique to

Shanghai and especially revealing of Chinese

culture, in the way that so many different

Figure 27: The leisure area of Wujiang Road features shops and

eateries resembling a modern mall.



one of the financial centers of the world, the local government and many Shanghai residents feel

the pressure to maintain the image of the city above certain standards, and in order to maintain

this global image, government officials may decide to take action against issues such as Wujiang

Road with the best intentions for the city in mind. In the end, the government sticks firm to its

decision, reasoning that the benefits outweigh the potential detraction of unique food culture.

XVIII. The Hukou Policy and its Impact on Urban Migration

The hukou policy and its restrictions vary from city to city, and some city governments'

attitudes towards their respective hukou systems tend to fluctuate based on their urban

developmental needs. In order to promote the city's economic development in 1994, the

Shanghai government relaxed its hukou policy by allowing those who purchase an apartment of

significant size (no less than 100 square meters) or make an investment into the city's

infrastructure of 1,000,000 RMB (200,000 USD) to automatically obtain a Shanghai lanyin

hukou, essentially an "outsider's Shanghai hukou"; after spending at least five years of residence

in the city, those who possess a lanyin hukou may obtain a true Shanghai hukou,

indistinguishable from that of a Shanghai native.



that each is in the process of developing a business, the former is rarely the case, considering that

most of our subjects dropped out of high school to enter the restaurant business. By contrast, day

laborers can claim no special skill, hardly any education, and cannot possibly be considered to be

in the process of developing their own business, so obtaining a juzhuzheng is an idea that is

impossible for these laborers to entertain.

However, the government put forth a new policy in June 2009, which states that anyone

who currently holds a juzhuzheng and has lived in Shanghai for the past seven years may apply

for a Shanghai hukou. But, as Subject 21 explained, the application does not necessarily

guarantee the attainment of a Shanghai hukou: the applications are tedious and expensive, and

the line of applicants is incredibly long. For the few subjects that have the education and steady

business to obtain a juzhuzheng, this is not the golden opportunity that it appears to be on paper.

Case Study: Hukou and Its Limitations

As previously mentioned, Subject 22 is from Xi’an, Shaanxi, and has had his restaurant

for six years. He originally worked at a state-owned four-star hotel in Xi’an, and even had the

chance to study hotel management in San Francisco as part of his job training. When he



in order for the employees to focus more on their work. A few of the middle-level management

live on their own in other parts of Shanghai.

The owner has put a lot of care into ensuring that their restaurant maintains some of

the atmosphere of the Chinese north-west, using decorations and background music from

Shaanxi. The shop window displays a number of Shaanxi regional cuisines in large print, attesting

to the authenticity of the restaurant's fengwei . The restaurant is located on the corner of two

busy streets, and is a clear northern cuisine alternative to its neighboring Hong Kong, Sichuan

and Macau restaurants.

The owner is heavily involved in the Shaanxi tongxianghui in Shanghai. Their laoxiang

community in Shanghai is comparatively small, as Xi’an is considered to be one of the more

comfortable cities in China, and few people willing to leave. Subject 22 also believes that people

from Shaanxi tend to be more conservative and less risk-taking, and fewer are willing to try their

luck somewhere else. The restaurant is a popular place for this community, especially since there

are very few Shaanxi restaurants in Shanghai, and the tongxianghui regularly holds events at his

restaurant.

The tongxianghui serves as more than just a support system for Subject 22. For him, it is

a chance to become more friendly and personally connected with one particular portion of his



English translations of Chinese dishes. After teaching this particular set of lessons, the company

then brings all their students to Subject 22's restaurant, where they get a chance to practice their

English ordering skills with the staff. There is no explicit appeal for the English night-class

company to bring their students to this particular restaurant -- the wait-staff's English level is

mediocre at best, and incomprehensible at worst -- but because of this partnership established

within the tongxianghui , Subject 22 is guaranteed over a hundred new customers each time the

company brings their students to "practice their English."

The couple have a sixteen-year-old son who has been living with them and going to

school in Shanghai. Without a Shanghai hukou¸ he could only attend non-government schools,

and now needs to return to Xi’an for the last two years of his high school education to take his

university entrance exams there. Not having Shanghai hukou is frustrating for the family because

they are unable to enjoy the government welfare benefits that come from being residents, such

as the sijin (“four golds”)—retirement funds, health insurance, workers’ compensation and

housing subsidies.

Currently, there is no way for the family to change their hukou to a Shanghai hukou. The

hukou system has different regulations for migrants from the rural areas than those from urban

areas. While those from rural areas are able to purchase properties in Shanghai and obtain a



to obtain a Shanghai hukou are much slimmer than the chances for an educated rural native.

When asked to further elaborate on the reasons why the policy is restrictive in this sense, Subject

22 informed us that this is yet another part of the Shanghai city government‘s agenda: to develop

the countryside areas by increasing the potential of social mobility for countryside natives and

those from peasant backgrounds. Secondly, as one of the largest cities population-wise in China,

the local government is having a hard time distinguishing between true "Shanghainese" locals,

and those who migrated with or without their families to the city for job opportunities. As a

result, a person like Subject 22, who has resided in Shanghai for enough years to attain a

juzhuzheng, still struggles with the bureaucratic red-tape of obtaining a true Shanghai hukou.

XIX. Preparation for the 2010 World Expo

The city of Shanghai is currently undergoing extensive renovation and gentrification as

part of the preparation for the 2010 World Exposition. In order to keep true to the Exposition's

slogan of "城市,让生活更美好― or to put it simply, "better city, better life," streets are being

repaved, old buildings are being torn down

or redone, and the business regulations



side of Wujiang Road. Many other smaller restaurants that don‘t fit in with the sophisticated,

new, ―Leisure Street‖ image of modernized Shanghai are also facing the same fate. Smaller,

casual restaurants are being closed down in favor of high-end boutiques and franchised cuisines.

The renovations on the Bund make it harder for potential customers to access Zhapu

Road, another once-famous shipinjie. Subject 37 has only been a restaurant owner on Zhapu

Road for two months, and the construction work being done on the sidewalk directly outside

makes it harder not only for customers to access the restaurant, but also for the restaurant‘s

suppliers to bring in produce and equipment. The restaurant only had seven or eight customers in

its first month of opening, but the owner

is confident that, once the repaving is

done, business conditions will improve.

The construction on Ningbo Road has

caused the foot traffic to slow down

substantially. Its proximity to the Nanjing

Road pedestrian street, a popular tourist



Shanghai‘s food culture— they are a cheap and convenient venue for any customer craving a

small snack at any hour of the day.

Changli Road, considered by some to be the ―Nanjing Road of Pudong‖, only a few

hundred meters away from the Expo site, has recently been declared the first legal street-food

street in Shanghai. A governmental

selection committee chose thirty ‗model‘

street-food vendors from all over Shanghai,

to set up their stands on Changli Road.

These business owners enjoy the benefits

of being a ‗legal‘ business, but of course

lose the flexibility and freedom of being

able to set their stands wherever they want.

They must pay a small amount in rent (about

500RMB per month) to the government for their licensed stand.

Subject 32 owns two adjacent restaurants on the corner of Changli Road, and has had this

Figure 31: The red structure in construction, seen from the

Changli Road subway station exit, serves as the centerpiece of

the 2010 World Expo.



exposure to a less-frequented area of Shanghai.

XX. Post Project: Self-evaluation

After approximately fifty days of interviewing, we collected forty-one subjects with

effective data, including seven subjects who have provided in-depth insights regarding our

research topics, five of whom were explicitly depicted in this paper.

Throughout our research, we could not fully inform the subjects about the purposes of

our study due to censorship concerns. Instead, we donned the guises of curious foreign students

who are very interested in China and are keen to learn the language and culture. However, it was

very difficult to bring up some important topics, especially those that may involve the subjects

having to reveal personal, private information as well as question our motives, without their

understanding of the project. Throughout the process, as we revised and improved our

conversational strategies, the depth of information we collected on the more sensitive topics

gradually improved. For instance, almost every single entrepreneur answered questions like,

―Why the food industry,‖ as opposed to only a few of them answered, ―How did you get your

capital to start this business,‖ even when these questions were brought up tactfully. For the same



hear. Fully informing the subjects about our research may result in certain benefits, yet we regard

this as a worthwhile cost for protecting both our subjects and ourselves.

During the interviews, we divided ourselves into two groups so that both groups have one

female and one male interviewer, and are relatively even in conversational Chinese abilities.

However, human behavior results in the inevitable fact that different degrees of participation

may have been influenced by the varying characteristics and personalities of the interviewing

group. This concern might have contributed to the depth of each interview, especially due to the

ethnic composition of our group: one foreign-looking and three Chinese-looking interviewers.

For example, one interviewee may answer differently when he or she is facing a foreigner in

contrast to American-born Chinese. The manner in which a question is formulated can also result

in inaccurate responses. Individuals sometimes have the tendency to provide false answers to

particular questions. More specifically, our subjects may have over-exaggerated some

experiences and possibly remained quiet on others. Though we have successfully gathered data

on forty-one individuals and their respective businesses, we cannot be sure that we have the full,

or even accurate, account from each one.



been changing due to the imminent arrival of the World Expo as well as the general

modernization of Shanghai. From our deeper profiles of five migrant entrepreneurs, we

highlighted some of the more complex and multifaceted areas of their lives as both business

owners and as migrants. They have answered some of our burning questions about intentions and

goals for their businesses, identifying with and integrating into the local societies, and their

attitudes towards their place in Shanghai's vibrant lifestyle. Each of these entrepreneurs has a

different story and it is clear from our interview results that their concerns as not as simple as the

official policies on migrants assume.

Because of the sensitive and personal nature of our project, the picture of migrant

entrepreneurship presented in our project works only with a limited sample of the population in

Shanghai. We have tried to vary the geographic distribution of our subjects, both according to

their locations within Shanghai and from their places of origin. We have trialed and re-trialed a

methodology of research in order to cater to our topic and subjects, and it seems to have been

effective to an extent. It would facilitate any further study in this area to keep our foundations in

mind, either in Shanghai or in other major cities in China.



noticed several trends that seem to exist as characteristics of those from particular areas. Subject

22, for example, is the only one who explicitly accredits his success to his involvement in the

Xi'an tongxianghui. While this might not hold true for all Shaanxi natives who entered the

restaurant market, one wonders if it holds true for other second-tier cities with economies as

strong as that of Xi'an. A study that specifically addresses the functions of tongxianghui within

the restaurant market would lead to a greater and more in-depth exploration of this topic.

Another trend common to those of a particular area is the purported ease that many

entrepreneurs from nearby areas (such as Anhui and Jiangsu) had in integrating and orienting

themselves within Shanghai's social circumstances. While some retained their identities as

Jiangsu or Anhui natives, others willingly tossed aside their native identity in exchange for the

"urbanite" title. As mentioned before, natives to areas near Shanghai seem to have a much easier

time finding employment in restaurants, even in those outside of their native region. Perhaps this

is due in part to their knowledge of the city, and the subsequent understanding of the attitudes

and desires of the local customers.

Our study has also demonstrated that one's self-identification and one's hukou origin are



entrepreneurs' capital. While some were willing to say that they saved enough money after

toiling in various mingong positions, most were extremely quiet about their sources of initial

funding. In a country where it is not in the least bit intrusive to ask how much money a person is

making, one wonders why this subjects strikes our interviewees as particularly taboo. We were

lucky enough, however, to witness one particular subject's climbing of the entrepreneurial

ladder: Subject 11 mentioned, on one of our last visits to his street stall, that he is opening his

own restaurant, the funding for which comes largely from his illegal street-food sales. This is

just one possible answer to the question of where so many entrepreneurs with no previous

experience in business or the restaurant industry obtain their funding, but it cannot be the only

one. A study that aims to discover restaurant entrepreneurs' origins of funding would be a great

step forward in identifying the common identity of the migrant restaurant entrepreneur in China.

It has become clear throughout the interview process that, despite all the information

gathered in this study, we have still only scratched the surface of a phenomenon that pervades

the roots of Shanghai's food culture. But while this study may be a bit overambitious, this fact in

itself is telling: the experience for each migrant entrepreneur, and their openness in discussing



was the epitome of the Shanghai food culture and served as an integral part of Shanghai‘s

identity. However, with ambitions of globalization, the government is replacing the street with

office buildings and hotels that are already plentiful in the vicinity. One has to wonder, at what

point will the government realize that, although these streets aren‘t the most visually appealing

or, in some cases, sanitized areas, they contribute a certain energy and appeal to Shanghai and

create an lively, fun atmosphere with affordable food. At this time, the idea of modernization,

specifically regarding buildings and structures, can be approached from two points of view:

1. Give the less cosmopolitan areas like Wujiang Lu a complete facelift and replace them

with modern structures

2. Renovate the aforementioned areas, but preserve the culture and visual appeal (if any)

that the respective area provides

Hopefully as the construction of China progresses, more provisions will be in place to

preserve the identity of an aesthetically lacking, yet culturally vibrant, area. To make up for the

destruction of Wujiang Road, the government may possibly designate a different street as a food

street to replace the lively culture that once existed.

With China‘s continued growth, one can only hope that the economists are right in their



approached in this project might be relics of the past as they need to succumb to the ever

changing demands of the consumer population.

Finally, with globalization spreading like wildfire throughout mainland China, the

Chinese food culture may face something with which it has had little experience with: an influx

of foreign, international migrant entrepreneurs. As seen with Blue Frog, with sufficient planning

and proper marketing, a foreign company can break into the Chinese food market as long as it

provides something new and exciting. Moreover, there exists a certain appeal in eating at an

authentic foreign-owned-and-operated restaurant. The experience can be compared to ordering a

burger at Burger King, or ordering a gourmet burger at a local diner. In this case, it was a

traditional American dining experience of charcoal-grilled steak, gourmet burgers, and the

fruition of Happy Hour in an authentically American restaurant in China that attracted crowds of

local Chinese. As foreign chefs and entrepreneurs see the vast opportunities in the Chinese food

market, domestic eatery owners may have to offer improvements upon various aspects of their

eatery to compete with foreign tastes.



Appendix

Chinese/English Translations

Chinese Pinyin English Definition

包间 bao jian Private room

涮羊肉 shuan yang rou Northern style hotpot

户口 hu kou Household registration system of residency permits

document that is issued one per family. It officially identifies

a person as a resident of an area and includes identifying

information such the name of the person, date of birth, thenames of parents, and name of spouse, if married

流动人口 liu dong ren kou Floating population. Peasants leaving the rural areas to seek

employment and business opportunities in China’s urban

centers

外地人 wai di ren Chinese people from any place other than the local city--

Shanghai in our case

同乡会 tong xiang hui An organisation for people from the same laojia to

networking四金 si jin Four gold. nickname for Shanghai social security

本地人 ben di ren Locals

食品街 shi pin jie Food street

民工 min gong Migrant laborers, commonly used to describe day laborers

小吃 xiao chi Small eats

风味 feng wei Regional taste

风味小吃 feng wei xiao chi Regional cuisine老家 lao jia Hometown where a person grew up in, or either of his/her

parent were originally from.



Regions Represented

Region

Number

of Subjects

Lanzhou 3

Harbin 3

Sichuan 2

Henan 3

Shaxian (Fujian) 3

Hunan 2Yunnan 1

Guizhou 1

Shandong 2

Shanghai 3

Xinjiang 2

Anhui 3

Shaanxi 2

Jiangsu 5

Guangdong 1

Liaoning 1

Guangxi 3



71

Subject List

Subject

Number

Date Region Type of Cuisine District Rent

(RMB/yr)

Years

Opened

Additional Information

1 6/11/2009 Shanghai Shanghai East NandanRoad

120000 4 • rents space to other owners/entrepreneurs• allows illegal chuanr to operate in his alleyduring inspections

2 6/12/2009 Harbin,

Heilongjiang

Harbin Guizhou

Road

3 • ―实实在在的东北人― written on the door

6/12/2009 Lanzhou,

Qinghai

Lanzhou hand-

pulled noodles

Baihe Road 120000 • learned the hand-pulling method in Shanghai

from Lanzhou master

4 6/12/2009 Yangzhou,

Jiangsu

Yangzhou

Scallion Pancakes

Guangxi

Road

6000 5 • Rent a small shop space in front of another restaurant

5 6/12/2009 Guilin Guilin Rice

Noodles

Guangxi

Road

200000 5 • Staff speaks Guilin dialect in restaurant

6 6/15/2009 Harbin Harbin

Dumplings

Guangxi

Road

2-3 months • Family business

7 6/15/2009 Lanzhou,

Qinghai

Lanzhou hand-

pulled noodles

Guangxi

Road• Employs both Lanzhou and Xinjiang staff

• doesn't serve alcohol

8 6/18/2009 Lanzhou,

Qinghai

Lanzhou hand-

pulled noodles

Maoming

Road

4 • Imports meat and ingredients from the North

9 6/18/2009 Gansu Gansu Maoming

Road

180000 1 • Invented Gansu bamboo basket specialty,

• wants to franchise his restaurant in the future

10 6/22/2009 Hunan Hunan Wujiang

Road

360000 3 • Advertised as Mao's jiachangcai w/ photo of

Mao hanging in back

11 6/22/2009 Henan Henan wok-fried East Nandan

Road

0 2 • street-food, sold between 11pm and 4am

• avg. business 400-800 RMB/month.

• has informant in the inspection bureau



72

12 6/22/2009 Guangdong Cantonese Wujiang

Road

120000 9 • sister is manager, opened two other restaurants that gov't eventually shut down

• highly successful • broke into Wujiang Rd. market early

• sister eventually came from Guangzhou tomanage

• while owners tried to establish other restaurants

13 6/22/2009 Yangzhou,

Jiangsu

Shanghai Wujiang

Road

480000 15 • Possesses Shanghai hukou

• purchased land at proper time to receivehukou

• restaurant is well-known along the street

• particularly for its "food elevator"• forced by gov't to shut down restaurant for

gentrification projects

14 6/26/2009 Shandong Shandong cakes Qipu Road 6000 • sub-lets corner from another restaurant

• his "apprentice" performs most of the cookingduties

15 6/26/2009 Suzhou,Jiangsu

Chuanr Xietu Road 0 • originally sold leather goods

• street-food

• operates on a mobile cart

16 6/26/2009 Yunnan Yunnan Rice

Noodles

Zhongshan

Park

4 • owner used to be a chef (specialty Sichuancuisine)

• learned from an authentic chef in Shanghai

17 6/30/2009 Shaxian,Fujian

ShaxianDelicacies

TianyaoqiaoRoad

240000 7 • Family still lives in Fujian • customer base largely workers in nearbycompanies

• returns home only once a year

• interested in breaking into foreign markets(Hong Kong, Taiwan, America)



73

18 7/2/2009 Chongqing,

Sichuan

Sichuan Qipu Road 120000 3 • owner is from northwest China

• staff is from Chongqing

• in competition with many "inauthentic"Sichuan restaurants on the same street

19 7/2/2009 Jilin Dongbei RiceCake

Qipu Road 0 6 months • street-stand• sells wholesale to restaurants aroundChenghuangmiao and People's Square

• previously did similar business in Beijing

20 7/3/2009 Chongqing,

Sichuan

Sichuan Huanghe

Road

108000 8 (1 with

current

owner)

• has already been through three differentowners

• few foreign customers (no English menu or pictures)

• purchases ingredients outside of restaurant

after food is ordered• in order to keep a "fresh" flavored cuisine

21 7/6/2009 Shenyang,

Liaoning

Dongbei Kaixuan

Road

456000 5 • owner used to work in clothing industry

22 7/7/2009 Xi'an,

Shaanxi

Shaanxi Dingxi Road 600000 6 · owner is head of tongxianghui

23 7/8/2009 Anhui Nanjing salted

duck

Ningbo

Road

0 16 • street-cart business

• owner bought house in Pudong• now has Shanghai hukou

24 7/8/2009 Anhui Guilin RiceNoodles, wonton

GuizhouRoad

78000 4 • added Guilin Rice Noodles to the menubecause wonton soup is not as popular

25 7/9/2009 Xinjiang Xinjiang Dingxi Road 300000 3 • 2 sister stores opened by family members inShanghai

• Only hires male workers



74

26 7/9/2009 Anhui Northern Hotpot,

small lobsters

Dingxi Road 120000 5 • northern cuisine because it's uncommon

• has been a mingong since aged 15

27 7/10/2009 Shandong Hunan Dingxi Road 2 months • owner's wife personally goes shopping for

fresh ingredients each day


ShaxianDelicacies

Xietu Road 120000 3 • mother/daughter -run• came to Shanghai because relativesrecommended it

29 7/13/2009 Henan Mala Tang Xietu Road 60000 • Sichuan food because it is more accepted byShanghainese people

• open 10am to 1am every day

30 7/14/2009 Guilin,Guangxi

Guilin RiceNoodles

Wuyi Road 96000 5 • used to be restaurant owner in Shenzhen butShanghai is better and bigger

• all employees are relatives of owner

31 7/14/2009 Xi'an,

Shaanxi

Roujiamo and

Mala Tang

Wujiang

Road• Xi'an owner providing Sichuan cuisine• small roujiamo and mala tang outlet part of a

larger restaurant

32 7/16/2009 Shanghai

(Shaoxing

Cuisine)

Shaoxing Changli

Road

300000 14 • Shanghai owner providing Shaoxing food• Imports authentic Shaoxing huangjiu

• restaurant remodeled with authentic Shaoxingchairs and tables

33 7/17/2009 Jiangsu Sichuan,

Shanghainese

Ningbo

Road

180000 2 • hometown only 2-3 hours from city

• sell Sichuan and Shanghainese cuisine

• gov't pays for outside renovations, own threeadjacent restaurants

• many foreign customers, so menu includespictures of dishes

34 7/17/2009 Harbin Harbin

Dumplings

Ningbo

Road

120000 8 • Owner used to own restaurant in Harbin but

came to Shanghai because of better customer

ethics



75

35 7/20/2009 Suzhou Suzhou Zhapu Road 480000 2 months • 20 restaurant private-owned franchise in

Shanghai

• staff are from all provinces in China and gothrough a training regiment


ShaxianDelicacies

Zhapu Road 120000 6 • Being on a famed shipinjie • most customers are tourists or people thatwork nearby

37 7/20/2009 Guizhou Guizhou Zhapu Road 144000 2 months • Learned from a Guizhou chef in Shanghai

• met laoxiang in Shanghai through Guizhou

community and various Guizhou restaurants

• Lots of Guizhou people come to thisrestaurant for celebrations, big events, etc.

38 7/20/2009 Xinjiang Xinjiang Zhapu Road 140000 1 • Owner is a XInjiang woman

• used to work for SH govt as interpreter

• has been here for 30 years

• speaks fantastic mandarin and Shanghainese

• large family atmosphere in restaurant,majority of staff are related

39 7/21/2009 Henan Henan Beef Noodles

GuangxiRoad

240000 1 week • Only sell beef and noodles • choose a combination of various beef partsand various noodles

• Get beef shipped over from Henan, cooked

and vaccuum sealed40 7/21/2009 Xinjiang Chuanr East Nandan

Road

0 1 • witnessed confiscation of materials

• collaborates with wok-fried noodle vendor on

the same corner

41 7/22/2009 Shanghai Shanghainese,

Japanese, Korean

Qipu Road 120000+ 2 • offers large variety of food

• focuses on presentation of food

• targets particular customer base (youngpeople)

Who is the Migrant Entrepreneur

Documents

Transcript of Who is the Migrant Entrepreneur