(Ecns.cn) – Rice noodles, the favorite breakfast choice of citizens in Guiyang, the capital city of Southwest China's Guizhou Province, has been on a price-rising spree in the past few years – jumping from 2.5 yuan ($0.39) per bowl to more than 7 yuan ($1.08), in light of the country's soaring inflation.
Many citizens have complained about the soaring prices, saying that they cannot even afford a traditional Guiyang breakfast anymore; while the rice noodle shop owners have said that their profits are small due to higher material costs and rental.
One web user with the screen name "sdfs48" posted on a local Internet forum April 29, asking consumers to stop complaining about the price hike. With the title "Those who say breakfast has become unaffordable, please shut up. If you can open a restaurant and make money with such a low price, I will shut down mine," the article itself only consisted of two words: no comment.
In response, the web user "The love of Wangzhe7" posted on the same forum 3 days later, vowing to open a rice noodle shop that sells only 4.5 yuan ($0.7) per bowl noodles. "Let's make a bet – if you win, I will pay for your breakfast for one year, likewise if I do, the forum is a witness."
The "duel" attracted more than 10,000 hits, as many web users contemplated the identities of these two people: "sdfs48" is a rice noodle shop owner while "Wangzhe7" could be a rich investor. Some even wondered if the whole bet thing was a publicity scheme for the forum itself.
However, "Wangzhe7" was for real. He did open a rice noodle restaurant called "WangKai Yimian," which literally means "be merciful to others," on June 26.
The shop was a success, it received more than 1,000 customers in its first day – a Guiyang native who now lives in Beijing even returned for one bowl of rice noodles at "Wangkai Yimian."
"Wangzhe7" told China Youth Daily on Wednesday that the shop has made a net profit of 11,364 yuan ($1,764) in its first month, and he opened another shop on August 1. The price is still 4.5 yuan.
"Maybe I made less profit by selling cheaper breakfast noodles, but I broke the myth that you 'can't make any money without raising prices'. Nothing is impossible," "Wangzhe7" wrote on the forum.
