Just as Western countries have world-renowned fast foods like burgers, sandwiches, and fish and chips, China also has its unique Chinese fast foods. The most well-known ones are undoubtedly Lanzhou lamian, braised chicken rice, and Shaxian delicacies, which can be found in almost all cities in China. Among them, Lanzhou lamian, like burgers in McDonald’s and Burger King, is featured diversely as a staple product in different restaurants.
Lanzhou lamian can be found almost everywhere in China. Today, more than 80% of Lanzhou lamian restaurants across China are actually owned by people from Hualong, Qinghai Province.
In the 1980s, the people of Hualong began to promote the lamian business throughout China. Hualong County has a population of 200,000, and one-third of them are engaged in the lamian business across the country. According to incomplete statistics, the revenue of these lamian restaurants exceeded 570 million RMB (about $90 million) in 2016, more than five times the county’s public budget revenue that year.
With a standardized production process, stable product flavor, low price, and the integration of local side dishes, people from Qinghai have brought “Lanzhou hand-pulled noodles” to all corners of the country.
As cultural and business exchanges among countries and regions along the ancient Maritime Silk Road further deepen, Chinese lamian noodle makers are seeking new business opportunities there. There is also a newly opened Chinese lamian noodle restaurant in Beruwala, the gem trading city in Sri Lanka, bringing an authentic Chinese flavor to the city.
In 2016, the Hualong county government formulated a series of policies for hand-pulled noodles, aiming to support locals to “shake off poverty through hand-pulled noodles”. As long as one goes to a noodle restaurant to learn noodle-making skills, not only can one earn wages, but the state will also provide a government subsidy of 5,000 yuan (around $700).
After completing the apprenticeship, the state continues to provide a three-year interest-free loan of 50,000 yuan (around $7,000) to encourage entrepreneurship in hand-pulled noodles. If there is no bad credit record, one can overdraft up to 250,000 yuan (around $35,000) at a time. For opening a hand-pulled noodle restaurant, this amount of money is enough for hardworking people from Hualong to start from scratch, and thus the “hand-pulled noodle economy” unfolds.
Qinghai , which literally means ‘blue sea’, is an inland province in central west China, adjacent to Xinjiang, Tibet, Sichuan, and Gansu. Qinghai is famed for its spectacular scenery, multi-ethnic minority culture, and rich Buddhist heritage throughout the region.
After more than 30 years of development, more than 100,000 people from Hualong County have gone out and opened tens of thousands of noodle restaurants across the country. Now, the fragrance of noodles spreads overseas.
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