Buns on the spree after President Xi's visit  

习近平“包子套餐”卖脱销 顾客排400多号点餐

“我们包子店头一次要领号，等着取包子的人最多排到了400多号。”习近平总书记到月坛北街的庆丰包子铺就餐，引起市民们的疯狂“追随”，昨天该店迎来开业以来的销售高峰，总书记点过的猪肉大葱馅包子和芥菜“套餐”一度脱销。[查看全文]

(ECNS) -- Pork buns at a Beijing restaurant have risen in popularity after Chinese President Xi Jinping dropped in unexpectedly at the shop on Saturday, where he queued up, ordered and paid for a simple lunch, the Beijing Morning Post said on Monday.

The store welcomed long lines on Sunday, with some people posing for photos and others wanting to order what President Xi had bought.

Xi paid an impromptu visit to a branch of the Qing Feng Steamed Buns Shop on Yuetan North Avenue. He waited in line to order his own 21 yuan (3.4 US dollar) meal of six steamed pork buns, a cold vegetable dish and a bowl of soup - all traditional northern dishes - and paid for them out of his own pocket. The food is now called the "set meal for President Xi" by Chinese netizens.

By 12:30 a.m. on Sunday, the number of customers waiting in line had reached 400, unprecedented for the restaurant, said a waiter.

Customers even queued up to take photos with the table where the president sat and ate.

A customer surnamed Liu said he came all the way from Tianjin to eat the "set meal."

"It took 40 minutes to queue up for the meal, eat, and take photos. I think it was worth it," Liu said.

Xi's visit has also brought business opportunities to the restaurant chain.

A person in charge said the restaurant had received phone calls from entrepreneurs about doing business with the chain.

A netizen from Chengdu even posted a guideline of "how to open a Qing-Feng Dumpling branch" on Weibo, China's version of Twitter, which has been forwarded by a large number of netizens.