QianDuoDuo's fourth shelf: the childhood corner store, moved online.
Quan Hongchan was 14 — a slight kid whose small frame holds enormous explosive power. At her very first Olympics she scored perfect 10s on three dives, broke the record with 466.20 points, and was the youngest Olympic champion on China's team. But her interview stole the show: she said she never dreamed of gold as a kid — her biggest dream was to run a little snack shop and eat all the spicy strips she wanted. The internet sighed: "Wait — the Olympic champion's dream is MY dream!"
Every childhood has something it longs for and can't have — especially in the 1970s and 80s, when there wasn't much to go around. I boarded at school from middle school on, came home one day a week, and missed every hit TV drama of the time. My biggest dream back then: one day, I'd watch every one of them, one by one. Decades later, thanks to YouTube, I have — old movies and old dramas, on tap. The old regrets are all made up now. But the taste of childhood is still the softest spot in the heart.
Generations of Chinese kids kept the same little shop tucked away inside: the supply co-op on the way home from school, the snack stall at the school gate — a few cents of happiness. With a couple of coins in your pocket, you'd stand there forever, picking.
So I moved that "childhood memory snack shop" online. Not much stock — a first batch of 7 tastes from when we were kids:
Hold it on your tongue first; let it soften, then chew. The wrapper hides a bonus: the rice-paper layer inside is edible and melts away — an extra little sweetness. That red-white-and-blue wrapper is still the 1959 design, unchanged for over 60 years. This August it went viral overseas: millions of views in three days, praised as "a masterpiece of graphic design" — someone even tattooed the rabbit on their arm. The wrappers we saved as kids turned out to be world-class art.
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Glazed but not sticky, crisp outside and soft within. A shiny syrup coat dusted with fragrant white sesame — one lick and the sweetness goes straight to your heart. We only got a few extra pieces at New Year. People who grew up with it say it best: "Tastes like childhood."
⏰ Temporarily sold out, restocking — tap "Notify me when available" on the Yami page, and come back here to buy once it's back. Meanwhile, browse the other 6.
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Back then it came in glass bottles, and you returned the bottle for the deposit. Glass doesn't ship well, so I found the canned version for you — the orange taste is still the orange taste. Take a sip, then let out one happy burp.
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Peel it open roll by roll — so sour it makes you squint, and you still can't stop.
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The longer you can stretch it, the prouder you feel — worth every bit of tooth-sticking!
🧭 Stock varies by region: if you can add it to your cart, go ahead; if it shows sold out, tap "Set arrival notification" on Yami and come back here after it restocks.
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One at a time while doing homework — crackly and addictive. This 480g bag is a much better deal than the little ones.
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A 120 cm super-long roll! As kids we competed: longest stretch, biggest bubble — and no sore losers allowed.
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I was a lucky kid, mouth-wise: my parents' work canteen fed us well, and at New Year their unit handed out apples — hundreds of pounds at a time, until I'd hide at the sight of one. Looking back: the fear isn't having so much you run away — it's an empty pocket with nothing to choose from. Childhood snacks were the same: what we lacked wasn't the sweetness. It was that tiny freedom of a few coins in your pocket and the whole stall to pick from.
The shop just opened, with these seven to start. What's your No. 1 childhood snack? My vote goes to White Rabbit.
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