People buy up 32 tons of 'stranded' potatoes overnight
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E-mail Ecns.cn, November 18, 2016
Residents of a neighborhood in Shenzhen, South China's Guangdong Province, reportedly bought 32 tons of potatoes overnight on Monday to help clear products a 60-year-old outland vendor failed to trade and had since been stuck in the city for several days.
The elderly street vendor surnamed Ma comes from Qinghai Province and managed to sell his potatoes to thousand-mile-away Shenzhen due to poor sales condition in his hometown.
Recommended by his son-in-law that potatoes have greater markets and are higher priced in Shenzhen, Ma decided to give it a shot.
The elderly man spent four days and nights transporting the potatoes to Shenzhen as well as a surprising 16,000 yuan ($2,330) in freight charges.
However, his products were suddenly unsellable after he arrived there on Nov 5.
It was said that Ma's potatoes were poor in quality, while others said that he was tricked by the local dealer who rejected his products in an attempt to bargain with Ma over price.
"My potatoes were indeed not as good as the ones that were already stored," said Ma, "furthermore, the warehouse is not big enough for the large amount of potatoes I brought. Therefore I had to pull out of the deal and stored potatoes temporarily on the street."
It had been several days and Ma's potatoes made quite a scene around the neighborhood.
Soon his dilemma circulated on social media platform WeChat and messages of helping him spread extensively in the nearby community.
People from different places were summoned and went to buy his potatoes. A local company even persuaded staff to purchase the stored potatoes to relieve Ma's burden and help him go home.
Consequently, Ma's potatoes were sold out overnight on Monday and he could finally return.
"This journey is the longest I've ever undergone and now I can finally go home. I'm so grateful for the people who helped me here; this city impressed me greatly," Ma said.
