Recently in Chengdu, Sichuan, a 1995-born street vendor named Zeng Yaxin has gone viral at Fuxin Night Market for her “cartoon hand-painted pancakes.” She combines her background in fine arts with traditional pancake-making, attracting crowds of eager customers.

Formerly an art teacher, Zeng was inspired by China’s booming night market economy. Using the griddle as her “canvas” and a spatula as her “brush,” she paints characters from anime and music idols using natural colours made from beetroot juice, spinach juice, and other ingredients. Regular pancakes sell for 15–25 yuan, while custom designs can cost up to 65 yuan and take between 10 to 30 minutes to complete.

One customer said that due to high demand, visitors must take a number to queue. Although the stall opens at 5 p.m., she arrived at 3 p.m. and still got number 40, waiting around five hours for her pancake. “If you want to be among the first, you have to come by 1 p.m.,” she said.

Zeng and her husband limit orders to 60 per day, earning around 1,000 yuan daily. Because complex custom designs take time, they often work from late afternoon until midnight. The couple plans to launch an online booking app and possibly hire art-savvy staff to handle growing demand.