'Goose Leg Auntie' Under Investigation After Customers Allege She Sold Duck Legs Instead

A beloved street food vendor, known as "Goose Leg Auntie," who rose to fame in 2023 for selling popular goose legs near Beijing's top universities, is now under investigation after being accused of selling duck legs instead.

The vendor, Chen Xiufeng, first gained attention when she ran a small stall near Peking University's southwest gate. Her freshly made goose legs became a campus sensation, with students lining up for hours. Soon, her business expanded to Renmin University of China, China Agricultural University, and even the upscale Beijing CBD area.

Chen was widely portrayed in Chinese media as a hardworking and honest woman who woke up early and worked late to provide students with delicious, freshly prepared goose legs. She was even invited by Peking University's Innovation Academy to share her life story at the university's Centennial Hall in March 2024.

However, controversy erupted after Chen herself posted an announcement in her Beijing CBD sales group, saying she had been reported by a customer. She admitted: "The raw material is duck legs. I will make it clear in the future." She added, "The name 'Goose Leg Auntie' has been used for over 10 years. There is no fraud involved."

The admission triggered shock and disappointment among many university students who had long believed they were eating goose.

Market data reveals a significant price gap between the two types of meat. According to the wholesale platform 1688.com, frozen duck legs cost only 2-3 yuan (30-44 US cents) each, while goose legs are much more expensive, at 6-7 yuan each based on data from Huinong Network.

Chen runs dozens of WeChat sales groups, and her KuaiTuantuan mini-program has over 190,000 members, with more than 360,000 group purchases. The product listing makes no mention of goose or duck legs, only offering "spicy" and "non-spicy" options at 16 yuan each. Based on the mini-program data, Chen's revenue exceeds 5 million yuan, according to Yangtze Evening News.

In an interview with Yangtze Evening News today, Chen explained that she had originally used goose legs when she started the business around 2011 near Peking University. "The nickname 'Goose Leg Auntie' came from that time, but the supply of goose legs was cut off after only one or two months. We tried many places but couldn't find goose legs that met our standards. Many of our long-time customers from Peking University and Tsinghua University knew we had switched to duck legs," she said.

The market supervision office of Beijing's Yanyuan Subdistrict confirmed that it had received a complaint and was investigating the case.