Former Tianjin Real Estate Director Turns to Street Vending, Selling Roasted Sweet Potatoes and Fruit to Make a Living and Pay Mortgage

A former real estate director in Tianjin with an overseas master's degree and a peak monthly salary of 45,000 RMB was laid off amid an industry downturn.

After a long and difficult job search, she ultimately chose to set up a street stall selling roasted sweet potatoes and fruit, earning 8,000 RMB a month to pay her mortgage.

Her case has sparked broader discussion about career transitions for middle-aged professionals and the role of the street-stall economy.

Key points: Chen Luton, 45, holds an overseas master's degree and once served as a fine-decoration director at real estate companies in Beijing and Tianjin, with a peak monthly salary of 45,000 RMB.

In 2019, she bought a roughly 1,100-square-foot unit for 2.96 million RMB, taking on more than 2 million RMB in mortgage debt.

After the property market turned in 2022, she was laid off.

She sent out more than 100 résumés, and even after lowering her expected monthly salary to just over 10,000 RMB, she still could not find stable work.

Since October 2025, she has been running a street stall in Tianjin, selling roasted sweet potatoes, corn, freshly squeezed orange juice and fruit, earning about 8,000 RMB a month to pay her mortgage.

From the Peak of Real Estate to the Industry's Trough Chen Luton recalls that during the boom years of the mainland property market, developers spared no expense on show-flat decoration.

After mastering the fine-decoration process, she returned to her hometown of Tianjin to develop her career, and at the industry's peak she was confident about the future, believing that a hefty mortgage would not be a problem.

The Challenges of Street Vending and Adapting to Them After being laid off, Chen Luton tried self-media but with little success.

At first she felt embarrassed about street vending, afraid of running into acquaintances, and only after a period of adjustment did she come to understand that earning money to support her family mattered most.

She learned sourcing, pricing and bookkeeping from scratch, carefully calculating profits down to a few cents.

Because unlicensed stalls are often chased away by urban management officers, she later moved to set up outside a residential estate, where business actually became better.

Middle-Aged Employment Struggles and Social Repercussions Chen Luton admits that at 45 it is already hard to be hired by companies in the mainland workplace, and what pains her most is that her 70-year-old father still has to work to help her repay the mortgage.

Her experience has sparked widespread discussion online, with many netizens noting that it is no longer rare for people from real estate to switch to street vending or self-media, and arguing that being 45 does not mean lacking ability, but that many positions have age limits.

The discussion also touched on the idea that "education is useless," though some argued that education improves personal awareness and perspective and has little to do with career changes.

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