Beijing is planning to build an international food street to serve the 2008 Olympic Games.

Scores of restaurants offering dishes from all over the world will cater for thousands of overseas visitors either homesick for their favorite meal or who find themselves with curious palates during the competition.

"It will serve as both a supporting facility for the Olympics and a tourist attraction," said Jiang Huabo, director of the executive committee of the ongoing Second Beijing Western-style Food Cultural Festival.

The plan to build a 50,000-square-metre international food showcase beside the Olympics Park has won the support from Beijing municipal authorities, Jiang was quoted as saying in the Beijing Daily News.

Though home to many foreign embassies, Beijing does not have enough Western-style food restaurants to meet the demand, said Hu Ping, director of the Market Department of the Beijing Municipal Bureau of Commerce.

"The development of Western food restaurants in Beijing lags behind some major cities in other parts of China," said Chen Liqun, president of the Beijing Western-Style Food Association.

According to official statistics, 3,600 Western-style food restaurants operate in Guangzhou, capital of South China's Guangdong Province, and more than 1,600 are open for business in East China's Shanghai Municipality. Beijing has only 600.

The international food street is expected to introduce Western cuisine to more Chinese and meet growing foreigners' demand, Jiang said.

The Second Beijing Western-style Food Cultural Festival has asked more than 160 foreign embassies and 19 UN agencies in Beijing to help invite businesses from their countries to come here and open food stores. So far many enterprises, both overseas and domestic, have shown great interest in the programme, said Chen Liqun, also director of the organizing committee.

Beijing is also planning to establish a center to train Western-style food chefs as well as managerial and service staff from across the country, Chen said.

(China Daily August 4, 2004)