Popular American fast food chain KFC Tuesday opened its first outlet in Lhasa, the regional capital of Tibet, becoming the first western fast food restaurant to open its doors on the “roof of the world”, reported official news agency Xinhua.
The restaurant, located in Lhasa’s downtown Shenli Shidai, was inaugurated almost 30 years after KFC became one of the first western food chains to enter the Chinese market after it set up its first restaurant in the country in 1987.
The brand, founded by Colonel Sanders, has 5,000 franchises in 1,100 cities in China and has turned out to be the most popular, edging out other rivals, including hamburger chains McDonalds and Burger King.
Long queues of residents waiting at the restaurant gates greeted the opening of the chain, reported Xinhua.
Chen Biao, manager of Shenli Shidai shopping center, expressed confidence that both local Chinese and foreign tourists will flock to the new restaurant although Tibet continues to be a highly restricted zone for foreign visitors owing to various limitations imposed on the country by the Chinese communist regime.
