Tianyuanji Hot Pot Restaurant Fangzhuang Branch, located at Xingdongnan Mansion, Fengtai District, Beijing, is to open on Sep 2, 2011. [Photo by Chen Chen / China.org.cn]

According to Liu, Tianyuanji service strategy is to treat guests like family, drawing on the Chinese tradition of serving the best food to family.

"The first time I told our shareholders that I will make Tianyuanji like this, they were shocked," Luo said. "One of the shareholders asked, ‘Liu, is this still Tianyuanji?' I said, ‘Yes, that's right.' I'm changing it. I even want to change the logo. I feel the logo is not international enough."

Help yourself, please! It's all free.  [Photo by Chen Chen / China.org.cn]

Liu indulges in flights of fancy, but he's also quite serious.

"I know I'm betting. I'm betting because I have a sense of mission. I'm always wondering why it's so hard for a Chinese food business to go public. China has many restaurants and great culinary culture. There should be many Chinese restaurants going public."

"Not a single investor has devoted himself to restaurants. We investors usually just put money in the businesses we think have potential. This time I also put myself into the venture. I never told my employees that we will go public, but we are working towards this goal. I asked my employees to make the products standard, provide the best service, open more and more branches and keep the finances sound. If we reach all these targets, it's natural for us to go public. Of course, whether Tianyuanji can be listed is also a matter of opportunity. But it's not a loss for me if it can't. I rebuilt a Chinese restaurant, and it is a Beijing brand. It's meaningful, isn't it?"

In this era, the winner takes all, and the loser goes out of business. Liu understands this more than anyone. But he has a strong sense of mission. The food safety problems have plagued China of late have pushed Chinese restaurants into the heart of the storm. Consumers are losing faith in what they eat.

Tianyuanji wants to provide a transparent dining experience. It has invited consumers to its suppliers' farms to see chickens in the field. "I think to present the truth is also a good marketing strategy," said Liu. This is the loyalty investors have to standard and quality. Going public is not only a capital operation, but also an improvement on quality and brand.

Whether Tianyuanji can be listed is a matter of opportunity, but quality, service and scale are the preconditions for that opportunity to come. We look forward to Liu's success because this is not only a listing of a Chinese enterprise, but also a display of Chinese brand and quality.