The Yogurt-Man

酸奶 (suan4 nai2), literally ‘Sour Milk’ in Chinese is wildly popular here. The term practically translates into yogurt, but in Beijing, it is both eaten and drank. On the streets, you can see shops selling the drinkable form of 酸奶 – typically for 2-3 RMB in little ceramic jars, which you have to return after you finish your drink.

But what I’m introducing to you is a fantastic discovery that I found after a conversation with a colleague… remember the milkman? Well, here, there is a 酸奶man (yogurt-man)! All you have to do, is dial in to the company’s hotline, register your address, let them know what type of yogurt (or milk) you want; and you can have a fresh bottle of yogurt delivered to your doorstep every day, rain or shine (even on Sundays!).

The procedure
I started my order on July 1st, 2010. The first day, my yogurt came quite late. This was because the yogurt-man needed to install a yogurt box outside my door. Finally, sometime in late late afternoon, my yogurt arrived. I got the low-fat kind for 2.2RMB a bottle. The taste reminds me somewhat of a lite Greet yogurt. It’s quite nice. Some of my colleagues have it for breakfast in the morning. Unfortunately, my yogurt-man continues to deliver my bottles in the afternoon. On the up side, the bottles can be kept (unopened and in refridgerated) for at least 3 days. So I guess if I wanted it in the morning, I could too.

Pros:
- fresh yogurt/milk delivered to your yogurt/milk-box every morning, with one simple phone call
Cons:
- yogurt arrives in late afternoon – will be sitting in box for a couple hours before you come home from work
- no trials available – minimum order is 1 month. However, you can typically find yogurt of the same brand in the supermarkets, so you could try it out there before placing an order. But I wouldn’t worry if I were you. They are really tasty!

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