shanghai, with a population of more than ]2 million peppie, is the fastest-growing, richest city in eastern china. today shanghai has hundreds of fast-food restaurants including mcdonald`s, pizza hut and the chinese-style california beef noodle king.

　　chinese customers like this new style of dining because it is fast, convenient and clean. these restaurant chains offer a wide variety of foods new to china. mcdonald`s customers are still more likely to eat chicken or fish than the company`s more famous hamburgers because they are not so familiar with beef. over time, however, the city`s customers are eating more beef, cheese and french fries than previous generations since more young people like to eat western fast-food.

　　shanghai`s western fast-food restaurants are more expensive than the chinese-style food outlets. as a result, it is members of the middle class earning more money and spending it on entertainment and food who eat in them frequently.nowadays, about half of shanghai`s consumers are eating out at a restaurant at least once a month. most of them are young men under the age of 36.

　　how fast has the spread of fast-food restaurants been in china`? take a look at kentucky fried chicken (kfc) and mcdonald`s: kfc had 40 restaurants in shanghai in 1996, and 250 in 1998, while mcdonald`s had 180 restaurants across china in 1998. such popularity means that these figures will most probably double in two or three years.

　　快餐厅在中国的发展

　　拥有超过1200万人口的上海，是华东地区发展最快、最富裕的城市。如今，上海已有包括麦当劳、必胜客、中式加州牛肉面大王等几百家快餐厅。

　　中国顾客喜欢这种新型的就餐方式，因为它快捷、方便、卫生。这些连锁餐馆给中国带来了大量全新的食品。麦当劳的顾客仍然更愿意品尝鸡肉和鱼肉，而对于这里更为出名的汉堡，却鲜有尝试，因为他们对牛肉并不熟悉。然而随着时间的发展，与上一代人相比，城市顾客对牛肉、奶酪、炸薯条的消费已经越来越大，因为越来越多的年轻人喜欢吃西式快餐。

　　上海的西式快餐厅价格比中餐馆贵。 因此经常来这里就餐的人以中产阶级为主，他们收入较高，同时也愿意在娱乐、餐饮方面消费。如今，大约一半的上海消费者每月至少外出在餐馆吃一次饭。他们大多是36岁以下的年轻人。

　　快餐厅在中国的发展到底有多快?让我们看一看肯德基和麦当劳：1996年上海共有40家肯德基餐厅，到了1998年已达到250家;1998年中国已有180家麦当劳餐厅。 西式快餐如此受欢迎，预计在两三年之内，这个数字还会翻一番。