Photo: Soft opening at a new Mixue location.
Once upon a time, looking up at the sky at night, I saw the stars as delightful twinkling lights placed up there mainly for my amusement. And also, to inspire the author of my local newspaper’s daily horoscope.
Lately, I look up and find myself considering the size of the universe, and as a result, feeling terribly small and insignificant.
Needless to say, I don’t look up at the night sky as much as I used to. Hardly ever, in fact.
Once upon a time, McDonald’s was the largest fast food chain in the entire world. The Golden Arches stood tall, as a symbol of American ingenuity and dominance.
But that was back when we thought the U.S. was pretty much the entire world.
The rest of the world seems to have grown much larger… now that almost everything we buy comes from Asia, Vietnam, India, Mexico, and Canada. Even the fastest-growing social media platforms are now coming from China.
A few months ago, a Chinese bubble tea and ice cream shop called Mixue Bingcheng took the No. 1 spot for the sheer number of locations around the world. And it just keeps growing.
The outlet is more commonly known as “Mixue Ice Cream & Tea”. From what I can tell from the Mixue images I found online, the shops everywhere in the world usually spell out “Ice Cream & Tea” on their signage in English, accompanied by the phrase “Since 1997”.
McDonald’s has always used English language signage, but apparently that wasn’t enough to keep them in first place.
I assume most people in my home town haven’t heard of Mixue, let alone learned how to pronounce the name. When I asked Google Translate to give me the English meaning of “Mixue”, Google told me the English translation was “Michelle”.
An understandable error for a computer-driven translation app to make, considering that “Mixue” is pronounced “Mee-shuh”. You could easily mistake that for “Michelle”, if you’re a computer network with only artificial intelligence, and you weren’t listening closely.
Further research revealed that “Mixue Bingcheng” is properly translated as “Honey Snow Ice City”. The business model is built around being ultra-affordable, with soft-serve ice cream priced at about 15 cents, and flavored teas starting at about 30 cents. Menu items include drinks such as Kiwi Jasmine Tea, Peach Mi-Shakes, Mango Sundaes, Brown Sugar Bubble Teas, and Ice Cream Toffee Hazelnut Lattes.
As the American economy slowly descends into darkness, a shop serving 15 cent ice cream would be like a gift from heaven.
“Their mango sundae is to die for,” wrote one of their fans on Reddit.
(Given that there’s so much death in the news these days, I think that particular fan could have phrased things differently. But maybe they haven’t been following the news. Which I can totally understand.)
In June 1997, Zhang Hongchao was studying economics at Henan University, when he opened a shaved‑ice stall in Zhengzhou using a 3,000‑yuan loan from his grandmother. (US$450). Some early success convinced him to expand, and in 1999 he opened a second stand.
The business was a constant struggle, however, until he introduced his signature soft ice cream in 2005, priced at 1 yuan. (About 15 cents.)
(As a comparison, I will mention that I offer my online humor columns absolutely free. I’m hoping to eventually have 45,000 readers someday. But maybe I need to serve ice cream and tea.)
Since 1997, Mixue has been slowly taking over the Asian fast food market, opening an impressive 45,000 stores across China, Indonesia, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand, and other countries, according to AP News. For those who are counting, this officially beats McDonald’s more than 44,000 global locations, as well as Starbucks’ more than 40,000 global locations.
But like the stars in a dark sky, the Mixue shops have been far, far away.
Recently, however, Mixue signed a lease to open its first-ever U.S. location, near New York City’s Chinatown.
On March 3, 2025, the Mixue Group went public through an initial public offering on the Hong Kong Stock Exchange, raising about US$444 million. If you missed out on that initial offering (as I did), you might someday be able to find consolation in a 15 cent ice cream.
Underrated writer Louis Cannon grew up in the vast American West, although his ex-wife, given the slightest opportunity, will deny that he ever grew up at all. You can read more stories on his Substack account.