"Are you looking for a way to stay sane in an environment that has been torn apart by war? Then perhaps what you need is a bubble tea. That is the philosophy guiding Brother Dong, a Chinese-German volunteer in Ukraine. The 52-year-old former officer in China's People's Armed Police drives once a month from his home in Frankfurt to collect a haul of tapioca pearls from a warehouse in Berlin."
"Brother Dong opened the first of his bubble tea shops in Odesa in November 2022, crowdfunding more than $12,000, mostly from the Chinese diaspora, to start his business. Now he runs four Maomi cafes in different Ukrainian cities, stocking a range of Asian drinks and snacks. The shops are run on a for-profit basis, although he says he is yet to make any money from them."
A 52-year-old Chinese-German volunteer, Brother Dong, travels monthly from Frankfurt to Berlin and across Poland to bring tapioca pearls to Ukraine. He is a former officer in China's People's Armed Police. He opened the first Maomi bubble tea shop in Odesa in November 2022, crowdfunding more than $12,000 mostly from the Chinese diaspora. He now runs four Maomi cafes in different Ukrainian cities, selling Asian drinks and snacks on a for-profit basis but not yet making money. Walls display pictures of Chinese and Taiwanese volunteer soldiers killed in the Russian invasion. Many Chinese in Ukraine support Kyiv out of distrust of authoritarianism and face harassment from Beijing and threats to their families.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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