Article

On August 22, the new store of Kaojiang Spicy Grilled Fish officially opened at Beijing Huiju Shopping Center, with long queues forming on site. Photo provided by the interviewee

This craze is not a "passing novelty." A week after the opening of the Kaojiang Huiju store, the popularity remained undiminished. As of 12:00 noon on August 29, there were already 260 tables waiting in line. A consumer born in the 2000s told reporters, "I had long heard that queuing at Kaojiang was tough, but I didn't expect that even with so many stores opened, I'd still have to wait an entire afternoon to get a meal."

This is not the first time Kaojiang has made young people so persistent. In September 2024, when Kaojiang's first Beijing store opened at Hesheng Hui in Chaoyang, diners were still queuing at 1 a.m. Currently, Kaojiang's Beijing stores have grown from 1 to 8, covering major commercial areas across the east, west, south, and north, yet the weekend queue spectacle at each store has hardly diminished. Some netizens joked, "The speed at which Kaojiang opens stores can't keep up with the speed at which Beijing's young people queue." So, two years have passed—why are young people still waiting for a grilled fish?