After 27 Years of Selling '90 Won Breakfast,' Grandmother Passes Away... Mourning Across China

"It Is Enough to Feed Poor Children Fully"

The Chinese 'Breakfast Grandma' who sold '90 won breakfasts' for 27 years has passed away. In China, a wave of mourning is spreading for Breakfast Grandma.

Grandma Maosuhwa (left), who has been selling '90-won breakfast' for 27 years. [Image source=Captured from Xinhua News Agency]

On the 26th, local media including the state-run Xinhua News Agency reported that Grandma Mao Suhua, known as the 'Breakfast Grandma' of Zhejiang Province, passed away on the 14th at the age of 90.

Since 1991, Grandma Mao had been setting up a stall in front of an elementary school in Huangtankou Village, Quzhou City, Zhejiang Province, selling breakfast. Until she closed her business in 2018, she consistently charged only 5 mao (about 90 won) for breakfast over 27 years.

Despite nearly 30 years of rapid economic growth in China and significant price increases, Grandma Mao never raised her prices for the sake of the poor students in the mountainous Huangtankou Village.

From early dawn, she ground soybeans with a millstone to make doujiang (soy milk), cooked glutinous rice daily to make rice cakes, and also prepared zongzi (rice dumplings wrapped in lotus leaves). Grandma Mao’s food was fresh and generously portioned. Her breakfasts were so popular that they sold out as soon as she set up her stall. It was enough to provide a morning meal for students with tight budgets as well as impoverished residents.

When people around her advised her to raise prices, saying, "Can you make money selling at that price?" Grandma Mao refused. She said, "I know their family situations well, and if I raise prices, the poor students will skip breakfast. Students need to eat well and stay healthy to study well and serve the country."

But naturally, the more Grandma Mao sold, the more she lost. Working six hours a day, she earned only 30 yuan (about 5,400 won) daily, resulting in a monthly deficit of 300 to 400 yuan (54,000 to 73,000 won).

However, she continued her business by supplementing with pensions received by her and her husband every month.

As her story became known through local media, she earned titles such as 'The Most Beautiful Quzhou Citizen,' 'Moral Model of Zhejiang Province,' and 'The Most Beautiful Chinese,' and received various awards including the 'National Moral Model' multiple times.

Grandma Mao had planned to continue her business "as long as she had strength," but due to deteriorating health, she had to close her stall in 2018. After five years of battling illness, she passed away.

Upon hearing the obituary posted by Grandma Mao’s grandson-in-law, netizens expressed their condolences.

Netizens responded with comments such as, "In a world where greed grows with economic development, she was someone who truly practiced love and shared generously," "I still vividly remember the grandmother who always welcomed us with a smiling face," and "She was the eternal pride of Quzhou."