Franchises of the Fujian based chain, 沙县小吃 (Shaxian Snack Bar) have sprouted up all over China, and Shenzhen is no exception. However, Shaxian Snack Bars aren’t upscale, in fact, the standardized fast food chain veneer notwithstanding, each Snack Bar seems your ordinary mom and pops dive. Moreover, with all the razing and rebuilding going on, the small restaurants and stalls suddenly appear and just as easily vanish. Currently burning up the web, this bit of satire about the real reason for the success of Shaxian Snack Bar brings together two of my favorite things — political satire and food (中文版).

“The war is over.”

The Snack Bar owner had a cigarette hanging from his mouth and his ass in the chair in front of me, as his eyes darted this way and that. A wisp of smoke came out of his mouth.

I was no longer happy. I had been enjoying a basket of steamed buns and a large portion of wonton, thinking about ordering another drumstick. Actually, I wanted a large rib from the large rib set meal, but it couldn’t be purchased independently, so I was thinking about my options. That was when this middle aged man plopped his ass on the chair in front of me, a lone customer with a smile on his face, and said that meaningless sentence. And he was smoking.

“What war? Also, how much is a large rib from the large rib set meal?” I asked patiently. Continue reading →