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Feng Guangju is the owner of Feng’s Baodu Restaurant. He’s been running this business on Langfang’ertiao for 20 years. Even though last year was the busiest ever it was also quite worrying.
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"I was glad, of course.The business was so good. Never had the shops and restaurants seen such queues, or such a situation. We even had to give customers reservation numbers, but I always felt things would become difficult. We considered finding another place, but where? The whole Xuanwu District was being renovated. Then, what about Chongwen District? Or Dongcheng or Xicheng? We considered all those places."
Feng’s Baodu Restaurant was established during the reign of Emperor Guangxu of the Qing Dynasty. It used special spices, thanks to which its reputation spread across the capital, but it disappeared after the PRC was founded. It didn’t reappear until the 1980s, when Feng Guangju retired from his factory job and re-launched the family brand. But he had a greater dream; to bring back some of the time-honoured brands and revive Beijing snacks.“Oriental Horizon” on CCTV, in a report about Feng’s Baodu Restaurant ten years ago, mentioned this dream.
"I hope to revive Menkuang Hutong. I can’t find all the old brands, but you’ve been here so long. Could you join us and help? We could pass our skills down to our children, don’t you think? If you can give me work, then my visit today has been worth it. But Mr Feng, I feel so humiliated whenever I think about KFC. What a success it has been. It’s got outlets everywhere; Dongsi, Xisi, Nanchizi, always in prime locations. What have we Beijingers earned after working so hard for so long? Nothing, literally nothing, not even our own place."
"We’re being beaten by outsiders. You see what great profits McDonalds makes with its fries. But is our crispy thin fritter twist in any way inferior? It’s just not competitive, compared with McDonalds. We don’t have so much money to invest. Don’t get so annoyed about it. We’ll be more competitive once we’ve extended our network. We’re sure to beat them. We’ll have our patrons, and supporters."
"I ran the business all by myself after I retired. I bought the ingredients, did the cooking, took care of the sales and cleaning, all on my own. I felt relaxed and rewarded. But if I started a business in Xisi there’d be no turning back. We must pass on our skills."
"Besides, we don’t have many brands yet, so we can’t fully represent Beijing snacks. There are still some famous old brands we need to work on. A single success is nothing. We want a group victory. Right? We want to make our contribution to Beijing, to China."
After more than ten years of hard work Feng Guangju persuaded some old brands to return to the market, including Yueshengzhai and Wei Yogurt. They are now regaining their popularity after a long silence. Langfang’ertiao, to the west of Qianmen, has attracted many brands, including
Feng’s Baodu Restaurant and Yueshengzhai, and has become the busiest snack street in the Qianmen area.
Then, out of the blue, plans were announced for a major renovation. It will update the old infrastructure and improve the dilapidated appearance. The future Qianmen will have new courtyard houses and a commercial district equipped with the latest facilities.
The part of Qianmen not far from Feng’s Baodu Restaurant will be the site of a major renovation in the next two years.
Hoardings now block access to the area, showing what the future Qianmen will look like.
Editor:Yang
