Let me preface this by saying that when we went to London, we were determined not to be "those Americans" who ate at McDonald's.
But in the Chicago airport on Sunday, Elizabeth said, "You know, I'd actually be curious to see what a Chinese McDonald's is like." An hour later, we were standing in line to get our passports and visas checked and started a conversation with the man behind us.
As it happened, Kelvin is an executive with McDonald's and was on his way to meet up with his team in China. He told us that within 10 years, China will surpass the United States as McDonald's largest market. It already has something like 1,400 stores in seven cities. China Daily published an article just last year about McDonald's astounding expansion goal of more than 225 stores per year. And advertising has become more aggressive, as this writer from the China Expat blog observed.
Still, it's second to Kentucky Fried Chicken, the flagship brand of the Louisville-based Yum! Corp. Several news organizations have written about KFC's domination of the Chinese markets.
But here's where it gets interesting. Kelvin told us that one of the reasons McDonald's was slow to get a foothold in China was that it spent four years setting up a supply-chain infrastructure. For instance, there were no potato farms in China before McDonald's arrived in 1990. Imagine that -- no fries with that. Beef also wasn't big. So McDonald's essentially had to help launch a beef cattle industry in China. It also set up its own supply chain for chicken using farming standards of the U.S. poultry industry.
Thus, when China was hit with an outbreak of bird flu, McDonald's didn't lose a step, Kelvin said. KFC, however, has relied on a traditional network of chicken suppliers and the restaurant chain has taken quite a hit, as the Associated Press reported.
Kelvin also told us that the menu was essentially the same as American fare but with some regional specialties. That sealed it for us. So for lunch on Tuesday, we found the McDonald's at the Wangfujing shopping area.
Ordering was the toughest part. The cashier was not impressed with my rudimentary Mandarin, so she bailed me out with her rudimentary English and got our orders largely correct: a chicken sandwich meal for Elizabeth and a rice patty and chicken wrap (one of those regional specialties) for me. I say "largely correct" because we were each given Cokes without a choice.
Oh, and that wrap? It's the best thing I've ever eaten at McDonald's.
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