Huang Zhanying

Biodata

Background / History

Unemployment and family disappointment

Huang Zhanying and Chen Qi were comrades during their time as sent-down educated youth. She had been a leader among the educated youth, and their families lived in the same compound. Like Chen Qi’s parents, her parents worked at Xinhua Bookstore 1 4.

After returning to Beijing, she attended a government employment briefing with Chen Qi. Although she initially trusted that the authorities would arrange work, she was dismayed to learn that they might enter collective enterprises, which she associated with low wages, poor conditions, few benefits, and social embarrassment 1.

Her parents agreed to send her to sell tea rather than let her inherit a bookstore position. They had reserved the available position for her younger brother, who had finished middle school and was also unemployed. She went to Chen Qi in tears, protesting that she did not want to sell tea 4.

Chen Qi encouraged her to treat the stall as a starting point rather than a dead end. His suggestions—selling snacks, hosting performances, opening a shop, and trading merchandise—awakened her interest in entrepreneurship. She asked him to keep teaching her because she wanted to get ahead 4.

Opening the Qianmen tea stall

In early April 1979, Huang joined the cooperative’s tea stall beside Qianmen Archery Tower. Despite her normally outgoing manner, she initially struggled to call out to customers. With Auntie Wang refusing to do it for them, she finally announced big bowls of tea at two fen each, explaining that the stall belonged to the cooperative and required no coupons 6.

The first customers, three visitors from Shandong, bought six bowls for twelve fen. Huang accepted the money with trembling hands, embarrassed but proud of their first earnings 6.

Without any formal appointment, she became the person holding the team together. She served tea, collected payments, called for customers, and directed coworkers to replenish supplies 7.

That first day also exposed the workers to open discrimination. Young men from the No. 2 Plastics Factory mocked them as unemployed drifters and sang at them. Huang confronted the hecklers, but their contempt left her furious and ashamed. Chen Qi intervened and pursued the matter beyond the stall 7 8.

Publicity and taking responsibility

China Youth Daily reporters Sheng Yongzhi and Yu Jiajia interviewed the workers following the dispute. By then, Huang was greeting customers comfortably; she also brought stools for the interview. Her coworkers increasingly treated her and Chen Qi as the stall’s leaders 10.

After Chen Qi’s newspaper essay appeared, readers crowded the stall looking for him. Huang handled their questions, accepted letters to pass on, and encouraged visitors to buy tea while her coworkers managed the queue 12.

When Chen Qi left to revise his screenplay at Beijing Film Studio, he retained his cooperative employment status without drawing wages and entrusted the stall’s operation to Huang. Happy for his opportunity but sad to see him leave, she promised to hold their post 14.

Competition and expansion

The stall’s success attracted a rival cooperative to the western side of the Archery Tower. Huang tracked the resulting decline in daily sales from a peak of more than 3,000 bowls to a little over 2,000. When Chen Qi returned, she reported both the competition and the arrival of 500 pairs of plastic sandals at the subdistrict office 25.

She had paid 200 yuan for the sandals supplied by the No. 2 Plastics Factory. Following Chen Qi’s proposal to sell them without ration coupons at a small markup, she calculated a potential net profit exceeding 1,000 yuan. He urged her to obtain as much stock as possible 27.

Opera-school performances and publicity surrounding American journalist Eve Arnold’s visit drew renewed crowds. Huang welcomed the young performers, promoted the show to passersby, and served Arnold tea 30 31.

During Leader Lin’s inspection, Huang asked permission to recruit more unemployed young people, explaining that business had grown and the stall needed help. He approved the proposal 32.

By Chen Qi’s next departure, she had expanded the stall’s equipment and merchandise. She also began studying English 900. Although she feared that his growing success was carrying him away from their old friendship, that anxiety strengthened her determination to improve herself 33.

Appearance

• Build: Burly and physically strong; she can grab Chen Qi and haul him to his feet 1 31.
• Eyes: Described as notably large 1.
• Voice: Loud and booming, later put to practical use attracting customers and announcing performances 1 30.

Personality

Huang is extroverted, outspoken, and comfortable approaching strangers. Chen Qi describes her as outgoing, bighearted, capable, and better at fighting than he is, jokingly comparing her fierceness to Zhang Fei. She likes being relied upon and responds strongly to encouragement that recognizes her leadership potential 1 4.

Her confidence does not make her immune to social pressure. She initially considers collective work embarrassing, freezes before her first sales pitch, and is deeply hurt by the factory workers’ insults. Earning money through her own work gradually gives her pride and purpose 1 6 7.

She takes collective responsibility seriously. She challenges Chen Qi’s apparent idleness, warns him not to undermine team unity, and steps forward when the stall is threatened. Her concern for others also appears in her attentive welcome to the opera students, including offering breakfast and checking whether they can drink tea 7 30.

Abilities & Skills

Leadership and stall management

• Coordinates coworkers and replenishment while simultaneously serving customers and handling money 7.
• Monitors sales closely enough to identify the effect of a competing stall 25.
• Identifies equipment shortages and follows through on expansion, buying fifty additional bowls, water jars, pots, and tables 31 33.
• Broadens the stock to include sandals, ice pops, raincoats, and ingredients for mung bean soup 33.

Customer service and promotion

• Develops from a nervous first-time vendor into an assured conversationalist with customers 6 10.
• Manages visitors seeking Chen Qi while turning increased attention into tea sales 12.
• Uses her powerful voice to gather an audience for the opera-school performances 30.

Arithmetic and learning

• Carries a small abacus in her bag and uses it to calculate the expected profit from sandal sales 27.
• Begins studying English 900 as part of her effort to improve herself 33.

Relationships

• Chen Qi — Neighbor, former sent-down comrade, business collaborator, and source of entrepreneurial guidance. Their friendship includes teasing and mock-revolutionary exchanges, but his film career leaves her increasingly conscious of the distance between their lives 1 4 14 25 33.
• Parents — Xinhua Bookstore employees who reserve the inheritable family job for her younger brother and agree to her selling tea instead. Their decision deeply upsets her 1 4.
• Younger brother — An unemployed middle-school graduate chosen to inherit the available parental job 4.
• Auntie Wang — Neighborhood organizer who helps establish the stall and insists that its young workers learn to attract customers themselves 4 6.
• Cooperative coworkers — Look to her for everyday direction despite her lack of a formal appointment; eventually regard her and Chen Qi as their leaders 7 10.

Notable Quotes

“Tell me more about it from now on, Comrade Chen Qi. I want so badly to get ahead!” 4

“Don’t worry. I’ll absolutely stand guard at this post for everyone!” 14