HEFEI, March 29 (Xinhua) -- Like many people of the ethnic Uygur group, Turdi Memet and his three brothers are making a living by grilling mutton kebabs.
The four brothers stick together with their business in eastern China's Anhui Province for years, but it was not until recently that they experienced the comfort of a settled life.
Turdi Memet, 24, was born in a village of Moyu County in northwest China's Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region. He is the third of four brothers in his family. In 2013, he followed in his brothers' footsteps to Huoqiu County in Anhui, which is 4,000 km away from their ancestral home, and joined the brothers' kebab business.
His elder brother told him that although Uygur-style grilled mutton kebabs are welcomed in inland cities and towns, he had to hide frequently from urban bylaw enforcement officers because the mobile grilling stall produced smoke emissions.
The brothers were peddlers until they took advice from those working for the county government to establish a fixed booth for kebab grilling and invested in a kitchen ventilator.
The county government provided support to help them rent the booth on a bustling commercial street so that their business could grow swiftly. They soon opened four chain stalls in the county. So when Turdi joined his brothers, he was soon able to oversee his own business, as each of the brothers runs one booth.
"We also recruited three locals to help us skewer the meat when we are busy," said the elder Memet.
Regular customers are willing to watch the Memet brothers craftily handling the skewers on the grill, calling them kebab masters. They can grab a bunch and turn them in one swoop while spreading cumin and ground pepper on the sizzling meat. It sends out a mouth-watering smell into the bustling street.
"Grilling kebabs is something we are good at. There is a large population of customers who love the food here," said Turdi Memet.
After moving to Huoqiu, he and his brothers made great progress in speaking Mandarin.
Turdi said the brothers made a deal to speak Mandarin to each other for a certain amount of time every day so that they can improve business and fit into the local life.
Zhang Yunlei, who runs a fruit stall next to Turdi Memet's, said the brothers barely spoke any Mandarin when they first arrived, but they can speak pretty well now.
The four brothers have witnessed the urbanization of the rural county over the past six years, as roads are getting broader, buildings higher and the environment cleaner.
"My family lived in poverty with four children. And the government in my hometown helped my elder brother build a house," said Turdi. His father, a truck driver, used to be the only bread-winner of the family.
The four brothers are grateful to those who have given them help in hard times.
"We want to give back and help those in need," he said.
They together took 10,000 yuan (1,500 U.S. dollars) out of their earnings, and when they visited an impoverished village of Wulidun in the county, they used the money to buy rice, flour and cooking oil for the poor, ahead of the Spring Festival in January.
At that time, they heard about a 5-year-old child from a poor family in the village was suffering from neuroblastoma, a malignant pediatric tumor. They donated another 1,000 yuan to the child. Turdi has made acquaintance with Ji, the little boy.
"What they did is incredible. It's also hard for them to make a living, but they are generous enough to help us," said Ji's grandfather.
Located at the northern foot of the Dabie Mountain, Huoqiu, with a vast rural area, is still one of China's national-level poverty-stricken counties. It has more than 70,000 people yet to be lifted out of poverty.
The kebab brothers said they are willing to make contributions to help the poor shake off poverty. They asked the county government to help them pair up with impoverished families in need.
"We are planning to get a caravan-size kebab grilling vehicle, which would make our business even better," said Turdi.
