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Xu Bing Chao, 25, a former singer from China who debuted with idol group Desert5, has recently returned to the spotlight after a 6-month hiatus — not as a celebrity, but as a street hawker.

News of Xu operating a food truck named “Steamed Stuff (sic) Buns” along a road in Zhejiang went viral when fans who recognised him uploaded photos online.

First a model then a 100-day idol

Xu first came into the spotlight when he won a model contest in 2017 and started working for fashion shows in Milan and Paris.

He rose to fame when he made it to the Top 20 list of the Chinese idol show “Youth With You” in 2019.

He teamed up with four other eliminated contestants to form the idol group Desert5.

The group released two singles and joined various activities, but disbanded on their 100th day in show business.

Out of the limelight for 6 months

Xu went solo as an actor and a singer and didn’t have much success.

The last time he updated his fans on Weibo was in August 2022.

After many people showed up to support him, he returned to Weibo to thank them.

He thinks bun selling is meaningful

In the post, he said he had seriously considered starting a business for quite some time and earnestly felt that earning his keep ”with his own hands” is very meaningful.

“I didn’t expect to be found out like that,” Xu said. “Please support my stall, [the buns are] very delicious.”

Many of his fans claimed on Weibo that the buns are pretty good, and also uploaded photos of the snaking queues in front of his food truck.

Stall attracts long queues

A netizen uploaded a photo of him conversing with a person who appears to be a local enforcement officer, and claimed that he had a run-in with the authorities.

Fans of Xu were up in arms about the allegation. Some who claimed they were familiar with the situation explained that the officer wanted him to move to the other side of the road because too many people were queueing up.

Other detractors joked that he is now more famous as a bun seller than when he was an idol.

Top image via Weibo