{"id":910667,"date":"2026-06-05T15:14:26","date_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:14:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/05\/instant-karma-no-regrets-for-coffee-gran-who-stirred-media-frenzy\/"},"modified":"2026-06-05T15:14:26","modified_gmt":"2026-06-05T20:14:26","slug":"instant-karma-no-regrets-for-coffee-gran-who-stirred-media-frenzy","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/2026\/06\/05\/instant-karma-no-regrets-for-coffee-gran-who-stirred-media-frenzy\/","title":{"rendered":"Instant Karma: No Regrets for \u2018Coffee Gran\u2019 Who Stirred Media Frenzy"},"content":{"rendered":"
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Editor\u2019s note: In the age of the attention economy, social media has the power to change lives by propelling any ordinary Joe to celebrity status in an instant. But what happens when that 15 minutes of fame ends?<\/em><\/p>\n

Sixth Tone is republishing five stories from \u201cAfter the Spotlight Fades<\/a>,\u201d a 10-part series by The Paper that revisits people and places in China whose fortunes were transformed \u2014 sometimes only briefly \u2014 by viral fame.<\/em><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen you\u2019re trending, you earn more money \u2014 and when you\u2019re not, life is more comfortable. Good health is the most important thing.\u201d<\/p>\n

After seeing both sides of the coin, Han Suzhen knows which she prefers.<\/p>\n

The 74-year-old shot to fame in May 2024 when a tourist\u2019s short video about her \u201chand-brewed instant coffee\u201d went viral<\/a>, sending countless customers flocking to her small alleyway store, Granny Han\u2019s Sugarcane Juice, in downtown Nanjing, capital of the eastern Jiangsu province.<\/p>\n

It is perhaps not immediately clear why the post grabbed people\u2019s attention, but nostalgia no doubt played a part. In the video, Han slices open three sachets of Nescaf\u00e9 instant coffee with large iron scissors, empties the contents into a cup, and pours hot water from a \u201cretro\u201d red flask. For this, she charges 10 yuan ($1.50).<\/p>\n

Soon after, Han was selling 1,000 cups a day, with fans coming from as far away as China\u2019s southwestern megacity of Chongqing, the northern Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, and the northwestern Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region. Even celebrities and social media influencers from overseas, such as the Malaysian pop singer Michael Wong, stopped by to take photos with her.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe line would sometimes stretch more than 50 meters,\u201d says the owner of a nearby barbecue stall.<\/p>\n

Then, Han\u2019s instant fame disappeared almost as fast. Today there are far fewer selfie-shooting visitors, and sales have dropped back to about 100 cups a day at best \u2014 sometimes it\u2019s only two or three.<\/p>\n

Her shop still bears the memories, though. Dotted on the walls of her 10-square-meter space are photos of Han posing with film and television stars and at red-carpet events in an elegant qipao <\/a><\/em>dress, as well as a red velvet banner sent by Nescaf\u00e9.<\/p>\n

But there are also parts she\u2019d like to forget \u2014 not least the rumors and accusations online that called into question her character and authenticity.<\/p>\n

Easy come, easy go<\/strong><\/p>\n

At the peak of Han\u2019s fame, Nescaf\u00e9 featured her on a livestream and promised a lifetime supply of free coffee, while one of Nanjing\u2019s biggest tourist attractions asked her to be a brand ambassador. Many companies also offered her free products including flasks, milk, an air conditioner, and a television.<\/p>\n

\u201cSomeone gave me a hot water dispenser \u2014 there were just too many customers, and I couldn\u2019t boil water fast enough,\u201d she says. \u201cIn the end, the water boiler was the only thing I kept. I politely declined everything else.\u201d<\/p>\n

Yet, there were those who believed it was all a stunt. Some claimed online that Han had a professional content team behind her to drive traffic, while others suggested she had raked in millions of yuan in just 20 days.<\/p>\n

This left Han upset and frustrated. \u201cI\u2019m just an elderly lady. Where would I get a team?\u201d she says, explaining that her nephew had helped her set up an account on Douyin, the Chinese version of TikTok, because someone had started impersonating her online. \u201cI do have a personal account where I post videos of my everyday life and occasionally livestream.\u201d<\/p>\n

And the rumors about her income? \u201cI sell sugarcane juice and coffee \u2014 how could I possibly make that much?\u201d she scoffs. \u201cI did earn a few hundred thousand, but it was all from hard work.\u201d<\/p>\n

Within two months of the video going viral, the crowds outside Han\u2019s store had already begun to thin. By the National Day holiday in the fall, things had returned to normal.<\/p>\n

\u201cI wasn\u2019t disappointed. Why would I feel disappointed?\u201d she says. \u201cFor me, going viral was like pennies from heaven. As a woman in my 70s, running my little shop, to suddenly become famous nationwide and receive the attention from so many people \u2014 what more could I ask for? I think my life has been truly worthwhile.\u201d<\/p>\n

She always knew the hype would eventually cool down. \u201cIf I\u2019m not trending anymore, then I just sell a bit less,\u201d Han says. \u201cAs long as I make enough to cover my costs and put food on the table, that\u2019s fine. And honestly, if it had stayed that busy, my body wouldn\u2019t have been able to take it \u2014 I would have collapsed sooner or later.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAt the peak, I went three days without a proper meal and lost almost three kilograms,\u201d she adds. \u201cOnce, I almost fainted at work. I was working myself to death \u2014 that\u2019s no good.\u201d<\/p>\n

And it wasn\u2019t just Han who was running off her feet. Ah Fu says his mutton soup restaurant, which is next door to Granny Han\u2019s Sugarcane Juice, was packed every day with tourists and content creators. He had to set up more tables outside to accommodate the crowds.<\/p>\n

Now, the trend-followers are gone and the regular neighborhood clientele has returned. \u201cThose good days are over,\u201d sighs the owner of another food business in the alleyway.<\/p>\n

The good life<\/strong><\/p>\n

Fame ultimately brought Han less freedom. At one point, she\u2019d arrive at work in the morning to find lines of young people from out of town \u2014 cameras poised \u2014 waiting for her to roll open the shutters to her tiny shop. Now, she can have a lie-in on chilly days, or grab a leisurely breakfast nearby before opening.<\/p>\n

At 9 p.m., she closes up and hops onto her electric scooter for the three-minute ride back home. She no longer has to detour through side alleys to shake off the influencers who once trailed her like paparazzi. Life has returned to what it was: steady, orderly, unhurried.<\/p>\n

One day in January this year, just after 10 a.m., Han had just taken her first order: two cups of sugarcane juice. She slipped a disposable plastic glove over her right hand and stuffed some sugarcane into a juicer, leaning instinctively to the left to catch the juice in a plastic cup. The machine crunched and gurgled before expelling the spent sugarcane pulp into a large blue trash can via a tin chute. After sealing the cup, she handed it to the customer, a local school boy. \u201cHe\u2019s grown up drinking my sugarcane juice,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Later, a young man in his 20s from Wuxi, a city about a two-hour drive from Nanjing, ordered a cup of sugarcane juice and politely asked if he could take a photo with Han. A young teacher from Changchun, capital of the northeastern Jilin province, also snapped a photo in front of the shop\u2019s sign and posted it on social media with the caption, \u201cMet an internet celebrity auntie \u2014 she\u2019s super nice!\u201d<\/p>\n

By the end of the day, Han had sold over 100 cups of sugarcane juice, but only two or three cups of coffee. \u201cThe day before yesterday, I sold over 100 cups of coffee, and even more sugarcane juice. Today\u2019s a bit slow, but it doesn\u2019t really matter how much I sell,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n

Every morning, Han sprays her permed curls, applies face cream, and swipes on lipstick before heading out. When people meet her, her carefully put-together appearance leaves a strong impression. Some say she resembles the Korean actress Na Moon-hee, but Han waves this off with a laugh, insisting, \u201cShe\u2019s a star. I\u2019m just an ordinary old lady. There\u2019s no comparing us.\u201d<\/p>\n

Born in Nanjing in 1951, Han moved to the countryside in the early 1970s before returning to the city to work as a purchasing agent at a department store, a job that required traveling across the country.<\/p>\n

\u201cBack then, I loved wearing qipao<\/em> with a pair of 5-centimeter heels and a little blazer. In summer, I\u2019d carry a parasol. I turned heads everywhere I went,\u201d Han says with pride.<\/p>\n

After China launched its \u201creform and opening-up\u201d policy in 1978, coffee became fashionable among urban youth, and a friend gave Han a Nescaf\u00e9 instant coffee set. \u201cThat was considered a classy gift at the time,\u201d she recalls. To make it last, she allowed herself only one cup every two days.<\/p>\n

But she was soon hooked, and would enjoy a coffee whenever she had free time. When single-serve Nescaf\u00e9 sachets became available, she would empty two into a mug, pour in hot water, and stir with a spoon, savoring the aroma.<\/p>\n

Han opened her sugarcane juice shop after she retired in 1992. Before starting each day, she would pack a few instant coffee sachets in her bag so she could brew a cup at work, sometimes leaving them on the counter. Eventually, customers began asking about them \u2014 and some wanted to buy them.<\/p>\n

She\u2019d been running the shop for several years when she decided to add coffee to the menu. \u201cI was just selling coffee on the side \u2014 who would have thought my coffee would go viral?\u201d she says. Even before smartphones, she often had lines of customers waiting for her sugarcane juice. \u201cI\u2019ve been selling it for decades, and business has always been good. Sometimes the daily revenue is 5,000 or 6,000 yuan.\u201d<\/p>\n

Han\u2019s husband was a few years older than her. She remembers him as a patient, good-tempered, and caring man. Every night when she came home from work, he would have a cup of coffee ready for her \u2014 she found that she was unable to sleep without it. When her husband passed away due to illness in 2022, her instant coffee ritual became a form of emotional solace.<\/p>\n

Today, back in her shop, this Nanjing native seems content with her lot. She has no interest in expanding into livestream marketing \u2014 she has no idea how algorithms work \u2014 or in opening a chain of outlets. \u201cI\u2019ll just keep doing what I\u2019ve always done,\u201d she says. \u201cAs long as my health holds up, this little shop will stay open.\u201d<\/p>\n

Reported by Qiu Haihong.<\/em><\/p>\n

A version of this article originally appeared in<\/em> The Paper<\/em><\/a>. It has been translated and edited for brevity and clarity, and is republished here with permission.<\/em><\/p>\n

Translator: Carrie Davies; editors: Wang Juyi and Hao Qibao.<\/em><\/p>\n

(Header image: Visuals from Modern Express and VCG, reedited by Sixth Tone)<\/em><\/p>\n<\/div>\n

Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Editor\u2019s note: In the age of the attention economy, social media has the power to change lives by propelling any ordinary Joe to celebrity status in an instant. But what happens when that 15 minutes of fame ends? Sixth Tone is republishing five stories from \u201cAfter the Spotlight Fades,\u201d a 10-part series by The Paper<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":910668,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4516,28992],"tags":[17567,148932],"class_list":["post-910667","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-instant","category-karma","tag-instant","tag-karma"],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910667","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=910667"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/910667\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/910668"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=910667"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=910667"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/newsycanuse.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=910667"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}