Two brothers, one capital idea
- By Wang Wei
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E-mail China.org.cn, August 21, 2012
There is a Chinese saying: "Study hard every day, and you'll keep improving." However, a popular Beijing grill has its own version of the saying: "Study hard and spend the rest of the day eating grilled food."
The restaurant, named "Wood Generating Fire -- Grill Research Institute," is a popular haunt among Beijing college students, due to its distinctive name as well as its special school-style décor, complete with school desks, chairs and funny slogans.
With its spacious dining hall, which can seat almost 300 customers, the grill is located in the southwest of the Universiade Village in Haidian District, one of Beijing's busiest areas.
The restaurant is owned by two brothers, Zhang Xingdong and Zhang Xinggang, from Mudanjiang City, in Heilongjiang Province, northeast China. The brothers experimented with a number of different business models before finally hitting on the idea of opening a restaurant.
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| File photo: Named "Wood Generating Fire -- Grill Research Institute," the grill house is located in the southwest of the Universiade Village in Haidian District, one of Beijing's busiest areas. |
"For years in Beijing, we have always done business together. However, during our last venture when we were representatives for a brand of potato chips, we suffered great losses," said 38-year-old Zhang Xinggang. "We then began a different life. I started a clothing business, while my older brother just stayed in his rented apartment, making what he described as 'plans for the future'".
Junior college graduate Zhang Xingdong used his spare time at home to indulge his love of reading. He also sat in on courses at Peking University on an informal basis, taking in a range of courses, including marketing. During this time, he interviewed for numerous jobs, but without success.
Zhang Xinggang recalled: "He felt rather stressed. Even his smile seemed sort of bitter at that time."
Then one day, completely out of the blue, the older Zhang proposed the idea of opening a grill house in Beijing. Although grilling is quite popular method of cooking in northeast China, the rest of the Zhang family was against the idea. "Among the three bothers in my family, he is the only one who cannot cook," Zhang Xinggang recalled with amusement. "He can only cook simple foods such as instant noodles, so how on earth did he come up with such an idea?"
However, nothing can get in the way of a stubborn person. In spite of the family's objections, Zhang Xingdong returned to his hometown and spent two month working as an apprentice in a barbecue restaurant.
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