China may boast a 5,000-year-old culinary tradition, but when it comes to fast food, Western-style outlets rule. Western expansion of fast food in China has been happening so fast that it seems that Roland Macdonald might have actually been Chinese. This change of taste is much thanks to (or because of) Chinese consumers themselves, who seem to prefer Western fast food.
The expansion of Fast Food in China has been massive, and companies such as McDonald’s or KFC want a bigger slice of the the country’s estimated annual 260 billion yuan ($40 billion) fast-food market. The first big American fast food chain to open a store in China was KFC in 1987. Many of those who were in Beijing at the time of the opening remember that the line that stretched out of the three-story building of 1,100 square meters in Qianmen, about a five-minute walk from Tian’anmen Square, almost reached Tian’anmen Square itself. McDonald’s was not late to respond and opened its first store in Shenzhen in 1990. Its Ronald McDonald clown, yellow M logo and Big Mac helped attract many local consumers. A plaque on the store’s wall testifies to its historic significance in Chinese culinary cultural history.
Watch how Fast Food in China changes the eating habits of Chinese people:
Both companies (KFC is held by Yum! industries) aim high: Yum! now operates 3,200 KFCs and 500 Pizza Huts in 650 Chinese cities --stretching from the tropical southern island of Hainan to the North Korean border and the desert oases of the ancient Silk Road. KFC’s target: to lift that number fivefold to 20,000 stores in mainland China. As for McDonalds, it plans to have 2,000 restaurants across the nation by 2013, up from its existing 1,300.
Health Consequences of Fast Food in China
Love for Fast Food in China has consequences, and China is getting overweight. If not long ago it were rare to see overweight Chinese people in the streets of big cities such as Beijing or Shanghai, today such sights have become commonplace. Many health problems, such as diabetes, can be linked to the growth of the fast food industry. Zha Jian Bing, a researcher in the Chinese Nutrition Society, says that “Western fast food has an impact on the lives of Chinese people, because it is high in salt, in protein and has a lot of calories. In developing countries such as China, fast food can cause numerous chronic illnesses such as heart disease, high cholesterol and diabetes.”
The opinion of Mr. Bing accords with an estimate of the World Health Organization that states that more than 30 percent of Chinese adults are now overweight. It is estimated that there are more than 92,000,000 people who have diabetes in China -- more than any other country world wide. “To eat fast food once a month is OK” says Mr. Bing, “But there is a tendency for some people to eat fast food frequently; a situation which has severe impacts on people’s health.”
It is understandable why people in China are drawn into Western, fast food chains: The food is affordable and offers a refreshing change from the flavors of the local Chinese cuisine: stores are often bigger, cleaner and air-conditioned during the hot summer months. The food is served quickly and efficiently and is adjusted to fit local tastes.
The phenomenon of Fast Food in China has many consequences. Not only people are becoming less healthy, but fast food is also eliminating many of the small, local restaurants. China must educate people about fast food and the consequences of eating too much of it. Should it fail to do so, the world might have to deal with yet another obese nation.
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Lior Paritzky is the Editor in Chief and Manager of Laowaiblog, an internet platform that provides opinion and views about social phenomena in modern China. Look for Lior on Twitter: Liorpari 
I live in Shanghai, and the number of fat people is rising all the time. It is amazing to see it too. Mcdonalds and KFC’s are packed during lunch time every single day. If someone doesn’t teach people about proper nutrition and the consequences of eating fast food in China, there will be a huge epidemic here
It is amazing to see how fast fast food in china has been conquering and taking over many other foods and small restaurants. I think one of the reasons is because Chinese people have become very curious towards Western food. Regardless, it is ashamed that the concept of Western food in China is McDonalds and KFC and not other, more representative cuisines.
I completely agree. As a North American myself, I am also ashamed to think that thanks to these fast food chains the average Chinese individual will have as little an idea as to what “real” Western food is as the average chowmein-and-spring-roll-happy Westerner has of “real” Chinese food. Fast food is an embarrassment to authentic cuisines everywhere!
Fast food in China is becoming so popular and the government does not care because it is making money with each hamburger sold in Mcdonalds due to an agreement signed between the company and China
If people don’t get proper education about junk food, they will find themselves obese, or worse – dead
Yep. The Chinese are getting fat, no surprises here. Without proper education about fast food in China there will be no end in sight for this problem. By the way, this is very similar to the smoking problem we have here in China – the government thinks that by putting out laws that will cause people to stop smoking, people will actually stop smoking. it fails to understand that it is not about the laws (that are not enforced anyway) but rather about the education of the population
It will boomerang big time when health expenses rise…
Damn that burger looks good!
As an American, I can only express my concern that China will not become like us. What is happening here is simply unreasonable. the food is unhealthy and people are obese beyond recognition. don’t let the fast food in China do to you what it does to us
try mcdonalds at noon to see how fast food in China has really spread
China is just as greed as the U.S. It doesn’t care about the well being of its citizens! all they care about is how to make the next buck and they are selling their people’s health for KFC and mcdonalds
with cigarettes smoking on the rise, fast food in china doesn’t help our poor health situation as it is. and hospitals are not giving good treatment too
Many don’t think about the implications of the rise of fast food in china. health expenses, obesity, addiction, inflation of meat prices… is China ready to deal with all of this?
Obese nation number 2! just what we need, 1.3 billion fatties…
I think this article is getting a bit ahead of itself. the situation in china is not that severe. true, it might get severe in the future. but for now, I don’t see how mcdonalds or kfc is less healthy than kongbaojiding
yes but they eat loads
The reason why fast food in China is growing the way it is is very simple: money. a short google search about how mcdonalds got into the chinese market will tell you that in the beginning china did not want mcdonalds to come in, and the authorities actually closed down the first mcdonalds branch that was founded in guangzhou (if I am not mistaken). it took time (and money) but mcdonalds promised to enrich the Chinese nation by splitting the profits with the government for the first few years of business. It was worth it for both sides. Now fast food in china is so popular, and chinese people have become addicted without even fully understanding the effects of this on their health. hmm… who to blame?
i dont see fastfood contributed obesity growth in china as that much, chinese are the people treat foods with much more zeals than all other things in life, alone with economical improvement many of them are just indulging feast daily without care for health and ovet weight, plus i think there are many chinese cuisines are nothing better than fast foods when they come to point of health, over use of salt, msg, oil (sometime from gutter)etc.
so in the case of china,before we blame fastfood, it is better to figure out what is consequence brought by growing technologies and innovations of china so called ‘ chemical-food industry.
nuts