Around China

Shandong

Pancake helps enrich villagers

Li Xingwen, a farmer from Youlou village in Pingyi county, earns about 750,000 yuan ($124,000) a year by selling jianbing, a Chinese pancake, in Shanghai. Li's three-member family runs three pancake stands in the city. Each stand earns him about 250,000 yuan a year, much more than the annual income of a white-collar worker. Li's son bought a new apartment in the city thanks to the brisk business. Li is not the only person from his village to make his fortune selling jianbing around the country. Youlou villagers have built 36 two-story villas and another four houses in the village after they became rich from selling the pancakes. Luxury brand cars can often be seen in the village during festivals.