By Tenzin Dharpo
DHARAMSHALA, March 15: One of the leading fast food conglomerate KFC (Kentucky Fried Chicken) last week opened its first ever outlet in Lhasa after a decade of speculation and reasons relating to ‘economic infeasibility’. Swarms of customers queued in front of the store waiting to be served fried chicken whilst indulging in the fanfare over the arrival of the fast food brand.
Store manager Yu Zhengqing told China Daily, “After its doors opened on Tuesday in Lhasa, more than 1,000 customers came to eat. It remained crowded on Wednesday, with locals forming long lines inside the restaurant and kids posing for photos in front.”
An average meal consisting sandwich, chicken wings, cola and fries cost 40 Yuan ($6.10) in Lhasa, while it is 31 yuan in inland cities. The increase in the price, the store manager said, is attributed to the shipping charges as frozen foods are flown in from neighboring provinces.
The outlet of 540 sq. mtr occupying a two storey space is set to recruit 40 staff for its operation. Store manager Yu speaking to China Daily, says, “Recruitment is continuing. Eventually, we hope the ratio between local ethnic Tibetan employees and non-Tibetans is even.”
In a place like Lhasa which is festooned with surveillance cameras, secret as well as regular police and the air itself expressive of a figurative iron curtain, the fast food joint is far from enacting any sort of government led measures to curb or contribute to their designs, yet it is an extension of the Chinese government’s attempt to put up Lhasa and Tibet as a destination for tourist and to influence global perception, say critics and Tibet observers. And for the residents, especially the younger Tibetans, it is a distraction like any other government approved red light areas, cheap liquors and party culture, critics say.
China’s latest ‘White Paper’ published Sep. 6 last year vehemently claimed that it had pulled out the Tibetan people from “Old and backward Tibet” to “Golden Age” as it marked 50 years of the so called Tibet Autonomous Region the same month with much fanfare and festivity in Lhasa, the capital of Tibet. The document also showed huge rise in statistical narration such as the “281 fold increase” in the GDP in Tibet yet conclusive reportage from around the globe like that of ‘The Borgen Project’, reports “Poverty in Tibet has a high rating in China, where 34 percent of the populations live in extreme poverty. The poorest villagers live on only $100 per year.”
The KFC brand first set its outlet in China in 1987 near the Tiananmen Square. Government mouth piece Xinhua earlier last year reported that the KFC is building a 4.67-hectare frozen storage area in a suburbs of Lhasa, indicating plans for more outlets in Lhasa and other locations in Tibet.
