It takes both business acumen and enthusiasm to ensure a good reception for German sausages in southwest China's megacity of Chongqing, where the hotpot dominates the catering business. However, one German man has managed to spread this foreign delicacy here.
Starting with a simple stall in Chongqing in 2016, Martin Hinkens' German-sausage business has stormed the city's battlements, providing stiff competition to the 16,600 hotpot restaurants.
In recent years, his restaurants have withstood the impact of COVID-19, which saw the closure of many restaurants offering exotic cuisine due to the dwindling number of overseas guests. He now has five restaurants in all, three in Chongqing and two in Chengdu, capital of the adjacent province of Sichuan.
"I never imagined that I would get this far," said Hinkens. "I used to study international relations in the UK, and many people would find it hard to imagine that I would now open a German-style restaurant in China."
Raised in Germany, Hinkens harbored fantasies about China from a young age. One of his favorite video games as a child was "Dynasty Warriors," which was set in the Three Kingdoms period (220-280 A.D.).
Hinkens said he had always wanted to come to China to see for himself the country and the people.
Attending Renmin University of China for an exchange program in 2012 and Tsinghua University for a language course in 2014, Hinkens decided to settle down in his Chinese wife's hometown, Chongqing.
In this mountain city, he met Wang Sien, a Chinese chef deft at making German food. They chose to collaborate on a business venture, establishing a small stall selling German sausages in the city center.
"We found that our sausages won a lot of favorable comments at food fairs across the country," said Hinkens. "I still remember that in the city of Zhengzhou, we sold tens of thousands of sausages a day."
In 2017, Hinkens and Wang opened their first restaurant, naming it "Sausage Brothers." While they stuck to providing authentic German food, they also customized the food to the tastes of the Chongqing customers.
Meanwhile, Hinkens spotted an opportunity in the Chengdu-Chongqing economic circle. Due to a regional development strategy that was proposed in early 2020, the traveling time between these two cities was cut to one hour, making it much easier for Hinkens to launch a business in Chengdu.
It has taken five years for Hinkens' German-sausage business to expand from a stall to five restaurants. But he has no plans to stand still, anticipating further expansion in the coming years.
"The whole western region could be my market, and I will work hard to make it happen," Hinkens said.
'Dutch journalist' covering Winter Olympics caught by Chinese guards
Austria to implement Covid vaccine mandate for all adults
US House of Representatives passes competitiveness bill