Comments on: Why China Is Different From America (Colonel Sanders Edition)

By: kellen

kellen — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 04:39:05 +0000

kfc was nice when i first got here since they have a fairly convincing mexican wrap. then i found mexican restaurants in town.

ironically enough, my grandparents drive a ways to a specific chinese place they say is better than all the other chinese buffets in west colorado.

who said fuddruckers? gross.

By: Josh

Josh — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 02:22:11 +0000

I agree with your last comment…here in Xinjiang a meal rarely costs my wife and I more than 20 RMB together unless we splurge (although we don’t live in a big city). There’s no doubt that KFC, the only western restaurant in our city, is the most expensive. Sure makes not going there a lot easier.

As Matt Stinson wrote, I think another good example of all of this is Pizza Hut. Back in America I can count on one hand the amount of times I actually sat down in a pizza joint to eat pizza – we’d always order out. Every place I’ve been in China, including Urumqi, the Pizza Hut is an UPSCALE restaurant! In my own form of protest, the two times I went there I refused to use my fork and knife. People looked at me funny for using my hands, but I figure that if they want to eat at a western restaurant they better learn how we do it.

By: matt_schiavenza

matt_schiavenza — Wed, 17 Sep 2008 01:06:12 +0000

Jascha,
Oh…I wasn’t attacking people for spending money on healthy food; I’d do the same if I lived at home and had the means to. But you’re right- I think a lot of the obesity epidemic can be explained by the fact that cheap food is almost always unhealthy.

Matthew,
Good point…KFC does have items like the Beijing burrito wrap (which is what I usually get when I go there) that caters to the local audience, and if I had to guess, I’d say portions are smaller than at KFC’s back home.

Pfeffer,
Whereabouts have you spent a lot of your time in China? In Kunming, nice restaurants here are rarely, rarely more than 20 RMB per person unless it’s the sort of place bigshots go to impress their business clients.

By: Pffefer

Pffefer — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 22:20:22 +0000

There is no way KFC is more expensive than 95% or 60% of all restaurants in China. How much does a meal (Tao Can) cost at KFC? Around 20 RMB. A bucket of chicken, plus some corn bread and a bottle of coke costs about 50 RMB, and this is supposedly for two people. I have never been to Lianyungang, but most restaurants in China that I have dined charged more than 50 RMB for food for two people.

By: Matthew Stinson

Matthew Stinson — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 17:13:37 +0000

That stray footnote is needed, my fellow Matt S. KFC is pretty damn popular when you move to the fat belt/Midwest and the Bible Belt. If KFC seems stomach-boggling, consider this: back at Florida State (and at John Pasden’s neighboring UF boo hiss) the locals went KFC one step more with Guthrie’s, a fried chicken tenders place with a mayo-based spicy sauce that made KFC look like health food. Such is life in the South.

The bigger point to take from your post and our experiences may be that Yum! Foods has taken two downscale brands in America, Pizza Hut and KFC, and sold them as high-class establishments to the Chinese, which has to perplex those of us who get over here and wonder why KFC and Pizza Hut are hot dating places, party venues, or where you go to show you have le cash.

One further point: KFC can leverage its immense popularity into higher prices in China because the Colonel rarely follows his traditions in the Middle Kingdom. Yum! Foods is heavily localized, so unlike McDonald’s, which tastes like McDonald’s almost anywhere, KFC and the like are more geared to Chinese tastes.

By: Jascha

Jascha — Tue, 16 Sep 2008 15:49:14 +0000

In defense of an “elitist Bay Area effetes I dearly refer to as my friends”:

American fast food stinks and is a major source of the health problems in this country. Granted it may be elitist, but when you have the means to avoid fast food, why ever eat it? Is it worth it to weigh 130 kilos like many of my Texan brethren? Clearly, there are much better restaurants around, and usually it is an extra dollar or two more just to go from crap to decent. So long as you don’t go out every meal, it’s not exactly hitting your wallet very hard. Or people could actually cook, which is by far the most affordable, especially if you have a family. And there are even places cheaper than fast food, like the Mexican taco shops that I frequent on a regular basis, that may not be too healthy, but sure as hell beat Taco Bell in taste (and probably still health).

And then the next step up from the classic fast food (the Applebee’s, the Chili’s, the Fuddruckers) all seem to be more expensive and infinitely worse than their authentic counterparts. I recently went to an Applebees (actually this was the first meal I had when I was back from travelling in China and I told my friend I wanted good American food. Mistake.) and was astounded by how bad the food was… and it cost me 10 bucks! I could get the equivalent meal, yet better tasting, at the local sandwich shop by my house for 6 bucks. Why the hell should I go to Applebees? For the crappy fries that came with it?

As for the freshness of food… it is a serious problem here in the States. I am envious of your ability to get amazing produce everywhere you go. Especially in the middle of this country, produce blows. Everytime I go to Mexico or anywhere out of the States, I am reminded what a banana or a tomato tastes like… its just so different its almost like a different food object. Whatever mass production scheme they have here, it takes away the taste (and not just slightly). And actually the best produce by far here is the Whole Foods (Whole Paycheck), but I don’t shop there because of the prices. But even Whole Foods can’t compare to any tiny little market in most any other country I’ve been to.

To actually talk about your topic: why the Chinese spend a lot of money to eat at KFC. My ill-informed opinion is that it is a similar reason as to why the Chinese also drink Budweiser.

-a snooty Bay Area Californian.