Heart of a water town

Wu Dongyun sells stinky-tofu rolls and other local food at a small diner in Nanzha.

"Unlike the well-paved streets everywhere now, roads were all bumpy and got muddy on rainy days, and sometimes our bicycle would sink and get stuck in the mud," she recalls.

"It was tough work, and I had to spend the whole day polishing furniture before paint could be applied."

Later, Wu went to work at a stinky-tofu restaurant in Xizha when the local government remodeled it and opened it to the public in 2006.

"Business was bustling," she says.

When her young daughter started school, Wu started her own business in front of her rented house, which is five minutes' walk from her current shop.

It didn't last long.

"My neighbors couldn't stand the cooking fumes and the noise, so I had to find another place."

She then rented the government-owned place and cooked simple food for the office workers.

Her monthly rent is 600 yuan ($89). She could rake in 500 yuan on good days but fewer than 100 yuan when things are slow.

She spends about 12 hours every day in her shop.

"I can't afford to lose any business opportunities," she says.

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