This Day, That Year

Item from Dec 2, 1996, in China Daily: Workers lower a McDonald's fast-food outlet flag yesterday in front of the restaurant on Wangfujing Street in Beijing. The fast-food restaurant closed today to make way for construction work. A new McDonald's will open soon about 150 meters north on the same street. ... The custom-built diner opened in 1992 in what developers regard as one of Beijing's most mouth-watering pieces of real estate.

Fast-food chains from the West have been rapidly expanding in China for the past three decades.

In 1987, the Chinese mainland's first Kentucky Fried Chicken branch opened in Beijing. By the end of last year, there were more than 4,800 KFC outlets nationwide, making the fast-food chain one of the most popular in the country.