From August to November, in just three or four short months, people across the country witnessed a miracle: how a small-to-medium-sized fourth- or fifth-tier city suddenly went viral online and in the news, and managed to sustain its popularity.
"Anping malatang," "Dongji Town food stalls," "Anping student visits Top Scholar Tower in May, then tops the science stream in the college entrance exam," "Restaurant owner's changing face"... search terms like these kept appearing on the trending lists.
Click on any one of them-"Restaurant owner's changing face," for instance-and beneath a video less than a minute long, there were tens of thousands of comments.
The video itself was quite simple. Some tourists had discovered a delicious hole-in-the-wall restaurant in a secluded alley in Anping City.
The storefront was tiny, with only three tables, and the owner had a terrible temper. He greeted everyone with a stony face and had all sorts of rules. He opened at eleven sharp and refused to let customers in before then. Customers weren't allowed to order, either; they ate whatever the owner, who doubled as the chef, cooked. No chatter when you came in, and leave as soon as you finished eating...
People were naturally curious about oddities, and the more he behaved like this, the more famous the little restaurant became. Especially after word spread online, tourists from out of town packed the place inside and out, willing to wait an hour just to taste its unchanging lineup of hearty dishes-Green Pepper Stir-Fried with Dried Tofu, Three Earthly Delicacies, Spicy Tofu, and Crispy Pork Bites!
To give credit where it was due, the owner's cooking really was exceptional. Those few home-style dishes looked, smelled, and tasted wonderful, and they were affordable, too.
Then, over the past couple of days, some observant tourists noticed that the