Adili Maimaititure can thank a dispute two years ago over cake for firing up the enthusiasm that has put him on the road to business success.

Adili, 23, a student, is from Kashgar, Xinjiang Uyghur autonomous region, and is a Uyghur. He was born into a family that has a long history of selling qiegao, also called Xinjiang nut cake.

As a result of the dispute, in Yueyang, Hunan province, in 2012, eyebrows were raised nationwide about how expensive qiegao could be, and Adili decided to prove that genuine qiegao deserved its status. So he and two of his Han-Chinese friends, Jiang Jinya and Jiang Chunyang, started selling qiegao online last year.

His idea won the support of his family, who even sent him raw materials from Kashgar. The three entrepreneurs rented a house in Changsha and turned it into a workshop.

Adili, who is responsible for production, showed that he had the natural talent to make qiegao and gradually his nut cake began gaining online popularity.

A Chinese cuisine documentary, A Bite of China, introduced qiegao in its second episode in May. Benefiting from the publicity, Adili's and his friends' daily sales exceeded 100,000 yuan ($16,000; 11,700 euros) on May 3 and May 4.

Besides online marketing, the three partners plan to set up a local store. To that end, they have rented a shop front. Adili says he hopes he can build the cake into a well-known energy snack brand one day.

Adili Maimaititure stirs walnut kernel and the syrup in the workshop in Changsha, Hunan province, on May 22.

Adili, Jiang Jinya (right) and Jiang Chunyang in their workshop.

Adili screens walnut kernel.

Adili checks the viscosity of the malt sugar. Photos by Li Ga / Xinhua

Adili cuts the cooled qiegao into nut cakes.

Adili and Jiang Chunyang pack the wrapped nut cakes.

(China Daily European Weekly 05/30/2014 page4)