Step aside, Ronald
How China is making the burger its own
Duck, pork, tofu—what will it be?
“让路，麦当劳
中国如何打造自己的汉堡
鸭肉，猪肉，豆腐——会是什么呢？”
At first glance, the burger appears like any other. But on closer inspection, something is different. Pressed between the buns is not a patty of minced beef, but morsels of roasted duck. The buns themselves are wrinkled and slightly charred. They are hand-rolled and made using traditional pastry-making techniques, says Tastien, the fast-food chain serving up this meal. If duck isn't your thing, other options include fish-fragrant shredded pork and mapo tofu. Though not technically a hamburger, Tastien’s ads declare, “The Chinese hamburger is here!”
乍一看，这个汉堡看上去和其他汉堡没有什么不同。但仔细看，有些不同寻常。夹在面包之间的不是牛肉饼，而是烤鸭肉。面包本身就是有皱纹的，略微有些烧焦的痕迹。据Tastien这家快餐连锁店介绍，这些面包是手卷的，并应用了传统的糕点制作技术。如果你不喜欢鸭肉，其他选择包括鱼香肉丝和麻婆豆腐。虽然技术上不算是汉堡包，但Tastien的广告宣称，“中国汉堡来了!”
It appears to be popular. Last year Tastien added nearly 3,500 stores, for a total of around 6,700 in China. That is more than McDonald's, which has 6,000, according to GeoHey, a Chinese analytics firm. KFC (11,000) and local brand Wallace (18,000) still lead the fast-food industry.
它似乎很受欢迎。去年Tastien新增了近3500家店面，使在中国的总店面数达到了大约6700家。这超过了麦当劳的6000家店面，根据中国分析公司GeoHey的数据。而肯德基拥有11000家，本土品牌华莱士拥有18000家，依然领先于快餐产业。
McDonald's and KFC brought burgers to China. When the first KFC opened in Beijing in 1987, customers queued up to get a taste. Back then the fast-food chains targeted well-off Chinese. But as incomes rose, such meals grew more affordable. Still, a big part of Tastien's success is its prices, which are well below those of Western fast-food chains.
麦当劳和肯德基将汉堡引入中国。当1987年第一家肯德基在北京开业时，顾客们排队品尝。当时，这些快餐连锁店的目标顾客是富裕的中国人。但随着收入的提高，这样的餐点变得更加平价。然而，Tastien的成功很大一部分归因于它的价格，这些价格远低于西方快餐连锁店。
Founded in 2012, Tastien started out making pizzas. It began selling burgers in 2017. Two years later it claimed to be the creator of the Chinese hamburger, though it was hardly the first to offer such a thing. Still, the patriotic marketing has gone down well. Tastien received a 120m yuan ($19m) investment from Chinese venture-capital firms in 2021. Until recently, it has focused on smaller cities where it faces less competition from Western chains.
Tastien成立于2012年，最初制作比萨饼。它在2017年开始销售汉堡包。两年后，它声称自己是“中国汉堡”的创造者，尽管这并非第一个提出这样概念的品牌。不过，爱国主义营销策略收效甚佳。Tastien在2021年接受了中国风险投资公司1.2亿元人民币（合1900万美元）的投资。直到最近，它主要专注于小城市，在这些地方它面临的西方连锁品牌的竞争较少。
Now it is taking on rivals in big cities like Guangzhou and Shanghai. And the competition is growing. Local fast-food chains such as Running Panda and Chuzheng have also attracted sizeable investments. Many of these smaller chains offer burgers similar to Tastien’s and have adopted marketing strategies that emphasise their Chinese origins.
现在它开始在广州和上海这样的大城市里挑战对手。竞争正日益激烈。像跑跑熊猫和出正这样的本地快餐连锁也吸引了可观的投资。这些中小连锁店中有许多都提供类似于Tastien的汉堡，并采用了强调其中国起源的营销策略。
Chinese burgers are part of a wider trend, called xinzhongshi (new Chinese style), which sees companies infusing elements from traditional Chinese culture into their products and branding. The label “Chinese style” has been attached to everything from coffee to fried chicken. There is a political tinge to the fad. Companies are capitalising on the nationalist tendencies of young people.
中国汉堡是更广泛趋势的一部分，这种趋势被称作“新中式”（xinzhongshi），其特点是公司将中国传统文化的元素注入他们的产品和品牌中。“中国风”这一标签被贴在了从咖啡到炸鸡的各种产品上。这种风尚带有一点政治色彩。公司正利用年轻人的民族主义倾向。
This type of marketing is no guarantee of success. Tea-houses in China date back hundreds of years, but some that have opened recently under the “Chinese style” banner are still struggling. So too are some vendors of steamed buns, which originated in China long ago. It is perhaps less of a surprise that Chinese-style ice cream has not taken off. The label can often seem like a gimmick, attached to products that have little to do with traditional culture. One might say the same about burgers. Good thing Tastien’s are cheap.
这种类型的营销并不保证成功。中国的茶馆有数百年的历史，但一些最近以“中国风”为旗号开设的茶馆仍然在挣扎。中国古老的包子摊也是如此。中国风格的冰淇淋未能流行或许并不奇怪。这个标签往往看起来像是噱头，附加在与传统文化关联不大的产品上。有人可能对汉堡也有同样的看法。好在Tastien的产品价格便宜。
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