CHAPTER 9 Of Hamburger and social space Consuming McDonald's in beijing Yunxiang Yan In a 1996 news report on dietary changes in the cities of Beijing, Tianjin and Shanghai, fast-food consumption was called the most salient develop ment in the national capital: "The development of a fast-food industry with Chinese characteristics has become a hot topic in Beijings dietary sector. This is underscored by the slogan'challenge the Western fast food"In deed, with the instant success of Kentucky Fried Chicken afterits grand open ing in 1987, followed by the sweeping dominance of McDonald,s and the introduction of other fast-food chains in the early 1ggos, Western-style fast food has played aleading role in the restaurant boom and in the rapid change in the culinary culture of Beijing. A war of fried chicken"broke out when local businesses tried to recapture the Beijing market from the Western fast- food chains by introducing Chinese-style fast foods. The " fast-food fever" in Beijing, as it is called by local observers, has given restaurant frequenters a stronger consumer consciousness and has created a Chinese notion of fast food and an associated culture From an anthropological perspective, this chapter aims to unpack the rich meanings of fast-food consumption in Beijing by focusing on the fast-food restaurants as a social space. Food and eating have long been a central con- This chapter is based on fieldwork in Beijing, August to October 1994, supported by a grant from the Henry Luce Foundation to the FairbankcenterforEastAsian Research, HarvardUnF versity, and on further documentary research supported by the 1996 Senate Grant, University of California, Los Angeles. I am grateful to Deborah Davis, Thomas Gold, Jun Jing Joseph Soares, and other participants at the american Council of Learned Societics conference at Yale Unk- versity for their valuable comments on earlier drafts of this chapter i also owe special thanks to Nancy Hearst for editorial assistance 1. Liu Fen and Long Zaizu 1996
202 YUNXIANG YAN cern in anthropological studies. 2 While nutritional anthropologists empha size the practical functions of foods and food ways in cultural settings, so- cial and cultural anthropologists try to explore the links between food (and eating)and other dimensions of a given culture. From Levi-Strauss's attempt to establish a universal system of meanings in the language of foods to Mary Douglas 's effort to decipher the social codes of meals and marshal Sahlins's analysis of the inner/outer, human/inhuman metaphors of food, there is a tradition of symbolic analysis of dietary cultures, whereby foods are treated as messages and eating as a way of social communication. The great variety of food habits can be understood as human responses to material conditions or as a way to draw boundaries between us"and"them" in order to con- struct group identity and thus to engage in "gastro-politics "5 According to Pierre Bourdieu, the different attitudes toward foods, different ways of eat- ing, and food taste itself all express and define the structure of class rela- tions in French society. Although in Chinese society ceremonial banquet- ing is frequently used to display and reinforce the existing social structure, James Watsons analysis of the sihk puhn among Hong Kong villagers-a spe- cial type of ritualized banquet that requires participants to share foods from the same pot-demonstrates that foods can also be used as a leveling device to blur class boundaries As Joseph Gusfield notes, the context of food consumption(the partici- pants and the social settings of eating) is as important as the text(the foods that are to be consumed). Restaurants thus should be regarded as part of a system of social codes; as institutionalized and commercialized venues, restau- rants also provide avaluable window through which to explore the social mean- ings of food consumption. In her recent study of dining out and social man- ners, Joanne Finkelstein classifies restaurants into three grand categories: (1) formal spectacular"restaurants, where dining has been elevated to an event of extraordinary stature";(2)amusement"restaurants, which add enter- tainment to dining and (3)convenience restaurants such as cafes and fast- food outlets. Although Finkelstein recognizes the importance of restaurants as a public space for socialization, she also emphasizes the antisocial aspect of dining out. She argues that, because interactions in restaurants are condi- tioned by existing manners and customs, "dining out allows us to act in imi- 2. For a general review, see Messer 1984 3. See, e.g,Jerome 198o 4. See Douglas 1975: LEviStaus 19B: and sahlins 1976. 5. See Harris 1985: Murphy 1986: and Appadurai 1g81 6. Bourdieu 1984.PP 175-200 7. Watson 1987. For more systematic studies of food in China, see Chang 1g77 and EAn- denson 1988. 8. See Gusfield 1992, P 8o 9. Finkelstein 1989, PP 68-71
OF HAMBURGER AND SOCIAL SPACE tation of others, in accord with images, in responses to fashions, out of habit, without need for thought or self-scrutiny. The result is that the styles of in- teraction that are encouraged in restaurants produce sociality without much individuality, which is an"uncivilized sociality. Concurring with Finkelstein's classification of restaurants, Allen Shelton proceeds further to analyze how restaurants as a theater can shape customers' thoughts and actions. Shelton argues that the cultural codes of restaurants are just as important as the food codes analyzed by Mary douglas, Levi-Strauss, and many others. He concludes chat the restaurant is an organized expenence using and transforming the raw objects of space, words, and tastes into a coded experience of social struc tures. ll Rick Fantasia's analysis of the fast-food industry in France is also il- luminating in this respect. He points out that because McDonalds represents an exotic Other"its outlets attract many young French customers who want to explore a different kind of social space-an "American place. "12 In light of the studies of both the text and context of food consumption I first revew the development of Western fast food and the local responses in Beijing during the period 1987 to 1996. Next I examine the cultural sym bolism of American fast food, the meanings of objects and physical place in fast-food restaurants, the consumer groups, and the use of public space in fast-food outlets. I then discuss the creation of a new social space in fast-food restaurants. In my opinion, the transformation of fast-food establishments from eating place to social space is the key to understanding the popularity of fast-food consumption in Beijing, and it is the major reason why local com- petitors have yet to successfully challenge the American fast-food chains. This study is based on both ethnographic evidence collected during my fieldwork in 1994(August to October)and documentary data published in Chinese ewspapers, popular magazines, and academicjournals during the 1987-96 period. Since McDonalds is the ultimate icon of American fast food abroad and the most successful competitor in Beijings fast-food market, McDon- ald'srestaurants were the primary place and object for my research, although I also consider other fast-food outlets and compare them with McDonalds In certain respects I3 FAST-FOOD FEVER IN BEIJING, 1987 TO1996 Fast food is not indigenous to Chinese society. It first appeared as an exotic -phenomenon- in novels- and movies imported from abroad and then entered bid 11. Shelton 199o,p. 515 12. See Fantasia 1995, pp. 213-15 13. For an anthropological study of sociocultural encounters at Mc Donalds in Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing Seoul, and Tokyo, see chapters in Watson, ed, 1997
YUNXIANG YAN he everyday life of ordinary consumers when Western fast-food chains opened restaurants in the beijing market. Kuaican, the Chinese translation or fast food, which literally means"fast meal"or"fast eating, contradicts the ancient principle in Chinese culinary culture that regards slow eating as healthy and elegant. There are a great variety of traditional snack foods called ciaochi(small eats), but the term"small eats"implies that they cannot be taken Ls meals. During the late 1970s, hefan(boxed rice)was introduced to solve he serious " dining problems" created by the lack of public dining facilities and the record number of visitors to Beijing. The inexpensive and convenient hefan--rice with a small quantity of vegetables or meat in a styrofoam box uickly became popular in train stations, in commercial areas, and at tourist attractions. However, thus far boxed rice remains a special category of con- venience food-it does not fall into the category of kuaican(fast food),even though it is consumed much faster than any of the fast foods discussed in the following pages. The intriguing point here is that in Beijing the notion of fast. food refers only to Western-style fast food and the new Chinese imitations. More important, as a new cultural construct, the notion of fast food includes nonfood elements such as eating manners, environment, and patterns of so- cial interaction. The popularity of fast food among Beijing consumers has lit tle to do with either the food itself or the speed with which it is consumed. American fast-food chains began to display interest in the huge market in China in the early 198os. As early as 1983, McDonald's used apples from China to supply its restaurants in Japan; thereafter it began to build up distribution and processing facilities in northern China. However, Kentucky Fried Chicken took the lead in the Beijing market On October 6, 1g87, KFC opened its first outlet at a commercial center just one block from Tiananmen square The three-story building, which seats more than 5oo customers, at the time was the largest KFC restaurant On the day of the grand opening, hundreds of customers stood in line outside the restaurant, waiting to taste the world- famous American food. Although few were really impressed with the food it- self, they were all thrilled by the eating experience: the encounter with friendly employees, quick service, spotless floors, climate-controlled and brightly-lit dining areas, and of course, smiling Colonel Sanders standing in front of the main gate. From 1987 to 1991, KFC restaurants in Beijing enjoyed celebrity status, and the flagship outlet scored first for both single-day and annual sales in 1988 among the more than g, ooo KFC outlets throughout the world In the restaurant business in Beijing during the early Igos, architecture andinternal decoration had to match the rank of a restaurant in an officially prescribed hierarchy, ranging from star-rated hotel restaurants for foreign- ers to formal restaurants, mass eateries, and simple street stalls. There were strict codes regarding what a restaurant should provide, at what pnce,and 14. See Love 1986. P 448
OF HAMBURGER AND SOCIAL SPACE what kind of customers it should serve in accordance with its position in this hierarchy. Therefore, some authorities in the local dietary sector deemed that the kFC decision to sell only fried chicken in such an elegant environment was absurd. i5 Beijing consumers, however, soon learned that a clean, bright and comfortable environment was a common feature of all Western-style fast- McDonald's has been the most popularand the most successful ong them, food restaurants that opened in the beijing market after KFC. among them The first McDonalds restaurant in Beijing was built at the southern end of Wangfujing Street, Beijings Fifth Avenue. With yoo seats and 29 cash reg- isters, the restaurant served more than 4o,o00 customers on its grand open ing day of April 23, 1992. The Wangfujing McDonald's quickly became an important landmark in Beijing, and its image appeared frequently on na- tional television programs. It also became an attraction for domestic tourists a place where ordinary people could literally taste a piece of American cul ture. Although not the first to introduce American fast food to Beijing con- sumers, the McDonald,'s chain has been the most aggressive in expanding its business and the most influential in developing the fast-food market. Ad ditional McDonald's restaurants appeared in Beijing one after another: two were opened in 1993, four in 1994, and ten more in 1995. There were 35 by August 1997, and according to the general manager the Beijing market is big enough to support more than a hundred McDonald's restaurants 17 At the same time, Pizza Hut, Bony Fried Chicken(of Canada), and Dunkin Donuts all made their way into the Beijing market. The most interesting new- comer is a noodle shop chain called Californian Beef Noodle King. Although the restaurant sells Chinese noodle soup, it has managed to portray itself as an American fast-food eatery and competes with McDonalds and KFC with lower prices and its appeal to Chinese tastes. The instant success of Western fast-food chains surprised those in the lo- cal restaurant industry. Soon thereafter, many articles in newspapers and journals called for the invention of Chinese-style fast food and the develop. ment of a local fast-food industry. April 1992 was a particularly difficult month for those involved in this sector: two weeks after the largest McDonalds restaurant opened at the southern end of wangfujing Street, Wu Fang Zhai, an old, prestigious restaurant at the northern end of wangfujing Street, went out of business; in its stead opened International Fast Food City, which sold Japanese fast food, American hamburgers, fried chicken, and ice cream. This was seen as an alarming threat to both the local food industry and the na- tional pride of Chinese culinary culture. T8 15. See Zhang Yubin 1992 16. See New York Times, April 24. 1992. For a dctailed account, see Yan I997a 17. Scc China Daily, September 12, 1994: and Service Brdge August 12, 1994 18. See Liu Ming 1992: Mian Zhi 1993