Beijing, in a bid to impress visitors during the 2008 Olympic
Games, is planning a cross-city cornucopia featuring traditional
Chinese fare as well as cuisine from around the world.
"We have this goal to make Beijing China's capital of delicacies
and a world foods showcase," said Gong Li, vice-director of the
Beijing Municipal Commercial Committee.
"Restaurants are among the most profitable businesses in Beijing.
But only high-quality establishments with distinctive
characteristics deserve to remain in this international metropolis
to-be."
Statistics from the commercial committee indicate the number of
restaurants in Beijing has been increasing at an average annual
rate of 20.3 percent over the past two decades. There were nearly
40,000 such enterprises by the end of last year, employing about
230,000 workers.
Among them were traditional Chinese restaurants offering famous
dishes like the roast duck of Quanjude and the hot-pot mutton of
Donglaishun, plus popular western eateries such as McDonald's and
TGI Friday's from the United States and Maxim's Restaurant from
France.
But there is still a lot of room for development in the lucrative
market, estimated to be worth about 24 billion yuan (US$2.89
billion), Gong said, adding: "Especially considering the huge
number of tourists that will visit Beijing in 2008."
About 5 million foreign guests, along with 120 million domestic
visitors, are expected to descend upon Beijing in 2008 for the
Olympic Games.
Therefore, the commercial committee plans to introduce dozens more
famous foreign and domestic food enterprises into Beijing in the
near future.
Key development areas, such as Zhongguancun -- the so-called
Silicon Valley of China -- the central business district, the
central finance district and the Beijing Economical-Technological
Development Area, will be the first areas to host the
newcomers.
Meanwhile, the commercial committee will give more support to the
development of traditional Beijing dishes, focusing on the
restoration of some that have been long forgotten.
As
the erstwhile capital of the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911)
dynasties, Beijing is famous for its imperial dishes.
Unfortunately, many of them are now only found in history
books.
But later this month the first batch of traditional Beijing dish
providers will be selected. They will enjoy government support,
either in the form of cash or preferential policies.
The latest achievement along these lines was the renovation of the
well-known "Gui (Ghost) Street," the nickname for a section of
Dongzhimennei Dajie. The avenue got the nickname because most of
its restaurants are open all night.
(China
Daily September 12, 2002)