The Economist.
At a time when the gaudiest shopping centres in China's big cities are half empty,
a small provincial supermarket chain has become so popular
that customers travel miles to visit its branches and queue for hours to get inside.
The supermarket chain is called Pangdonglai and it has a really unusual business model.
I'm David Rennie, The Economist's Beijing bureau chief.
I'm here with Don Weinland, our China business and finance editor,
who'll take us into a branch of Pangdonglai.
This week, we're asking: what can the wild success of one local supermarket chain tell us about China today?
This is Drum Tower from The Economist.
Don, good to see you, if only over a screen.
Hey, David.
How's it going?
Not too bad.
How is Shanghai's looking?
A little muggy, even through a screen.
Is it a Shanghai summer?
We've really moved into the Shanghai summer now.
It's very muggy.
It's very hot.