Chinese man drops out of top university, gives up PhD dreams in US to sell mashed potatoes | Trending

A young man in China has gone viral on mainland social media after quitting his master’s degree at Fudan University in Shanghai to launch a street food stall, according to a report by the South China Morning Post.

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From top student to street vendor

Before taking the unconventional path, 24-year-old Fei Yu was on track to join China’s academic elite, Jiupai News reported, cited by SCMP. Despite growing up in a poor family in Leshan, Sichuan province, Fei worked hard to gain admission into Sichuan University, majoring in public health.

After graduating in 2022, his stellar academic record – ranked first in his class – secured him a place at Fudan University’s graduate school without even needing to sit an entrance exam. However, after only one term, Fei made the difficult decision to drop out.

He cited depression, insomnia, and stomach problems caused by academic pressure and mistreatment by his mentor as the reasons behind his departure. “I could not continue my study any longer,” he said, without naming the teacher involved.

Dreams abroad dashed

Following a year of staying idle at home, Fei applied for PhD programmes in preventive medicine at several universities in the United States and was admitted with a scholarship. However, funding cuts introduced during Donald Trump’s presidency forced the school to withdraw its financial support, leaving Fei unable to afford his overseas education.

Coming from a simple background – with his father working as a coal miner and his mother doing odd jobs – Fei decided to pursue a different dream: starting a small business.

Finding success with mashed potatoes

Drawing from his childhood experience selling balloons with his grandmother and excelling at part-time sales during university, Fei launched a mashed potato food stall near the gates of his alma mater on 10 March.

“So far, the business performance has been satisfactory,” Fei said, adding that he earns between 700 and 1,000 yuan (US$100–140) per day, with customers often queueing up for his food.

“I do not feel embarrassed at all. I am an outgoing person,” he said. “If they think the flavour of my food is nice, they will definitely return to buy.”

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“The process matters more than the result”

While some critics have accused him of wasting educational resources, Fei disagreed. “I do not think it is a pity that I discontinued my master’s degree studies and did not take up a job related to my major. In my opinion, the result is not so important, but the process is.”

Each day, he spends around four hours preparing food before opening his stall at 5pm, often selling out within two to three hours. “It is exhausting. But I do not have any psychological pressure from academic studies. Extracting myself from studying or doing science research, I feel I have entered a new world,” Fei added.