From Beijing Turmoil Rises a ‘Hot Item’

The recent turmoil in China has been good for Chiang Chu’s business.

On Saturday, Chu’s Postal Plus novelty shop in Irvine started selling 100% cotton, Beijing University T-shirts for $12, plus shipping and handling. The company has already received orders for at least 200 shirts, largely because Chinese students’ tragic attempt at democratization has gripped the world’s attention.

The shirts--which come in white or yellow--feature the Chinese flag and the words Beijing University written in both English and Mandarin.

“People get tired of wearing a UCLA, USC T-shirt all the time,” said Chu, a Shanghai native. “They want to wear something different.”

Chu, 39, said Tuesday that he got the idea to sell T-shirts stamped with the names of foreign universities several months ago but rushed the Beijing shirt into production when demonstrations in Beijing’s Tien An Men Square became news.

“It just happened at the right time,” Chu said.

Then a military assault crushed the protests and resulted in the deaths of hundreds, maybe thousands, of Chinese. One week later, the shirts were on sale.

Chu said that after the Tien An Men Square tragedy, he decided to donate between $3 and $4 per T-shirt to a charity caring for Chinese students. Chu said he is still looking for an appropriate organization and is not worried about people who may think he is trying to capitalize on the tragedy.

“I’m not a very politically motivated guy,” Chu said. “I’m just a businessman. I’m just making T-shirts, you know. However people want to view it, that’s their problem.”

Chu said the T-shirt appeals to two types of people--those who like its originality and those who want to wear it as a sign of support for Chinese students’ struggle for democracy.

George Hernandez of Los Angeles said he ordered six Beijing shirts to demonstrate his solidarity with the Chinese students’ struggle for democracy.

For eight days in September, Hernandez, 58, toured Beijing with the help of an interpreter, who was a Chinese college student.

“I hope this will help the students over there. In my own small way, I figured I helped,” Hernandez said.

The Beijing University T-shirt has been such a hit that Chu is already talking about his next project--the Moscow University T-shirt.