The sanctity of fast food norms are under threat! Residents in Shanghai, Beijing, Shenzhen and Guangzhou now have the option of getting a hot dog and a small coffee for the appetizing price of 10RMB during breakfast at McDonald's. Finally, a hot morning wiener to go with our little cup of McD's coffee! What took them so long? more ›

Confirmed: That In-N-Out we showed you yesterday is a fake. Someone from In-N-Out headquarters has written in to CityWeekend to inform them that the burger chain has definitely no plans for Shanghai in the immediate future:

“In response to your question, we hope to expand as far as we can, but do not have any immediate plans for Shanghai at this time. We do hope to continue expanding, but are always careful not to open a new location until we can guarantee the same quality food and service as we provide in our existing locations. But thanks to customers like you, hopefully you will see us in more areas in the future!”

We promise you we have our best people working on this. A few photos of what appears to be an In-N-Out ad taken in Shanghai have spurred speculation online that we could be going it 'animal style' in the foreseeable future. Update: We are hearing from multiple sources close to the company that this ad is, unfortunately, absolutely fake. But we'll take a fake In-n-Out over none, right? more ›

Employees at several KFCs in Beijing have come out with some pretty disgusting allegations against China's favorite fried chicken chain. Four-day-old re-used cooking oil and dirty dripping bloody chicken meat about sums it up. Re-using oil is a common practice in restaurants, but health codes demand it be tested to monitor for chemical build-up, something they are claiming wasn't being done. The employees also say KFC is under-frying its chicken, and re-using burgers that have sat out too long by simply replacing the toppings. KFC, of course, flat out denies these allegations, and claims their chicken is clean, their oil is tested, and their old food is discarded. more ›

We are so not lovin' it right now: "US fast food giant McDonald's raised prices of certain products in China from July 13, the Beijing Times reported Monday. The price hike is the fourth since July 2010, the paper said. McDonald's told the paper that the price hike was a 'structural adjustment', in line with the company's overall strategy. The price of Chicken McNuggets (5 pieces) was raised to 8 yuan ($1.19) from the previous 6 yuan, spicy McWings was raised to 9 yuan from 7 yuan, and a milkshake now costs 12 yuan instead of 9.5 yuan. It also raised the price of hamburgers, french fries, chicken wings, and most combos, excluding Chicken McNugget combos. The price hikes were between 0.5 yuan to 2 yuan, the paper said. KFC, another US fast food provider, said it currently has no plan to adjust product prices, according to the paper." [China Daily] more ›

It looks like Subway wants all of China eating fresh, all the time. On Monday, the company announced plans to more than double its number of stores in China, from the current 220 to over 600 by 2015! They announced a 40 percent growth in sale revenue in Beijing last year, and appear intent on taking over the mainland, one tuna sandwich at a time. Tuna is, by the way, the most popular sandwich choice by the Chinese, but the company is looking for even more ways to tailor items to local tastes. This is a phenomenon massively popular with mainland giants like KFC and McDonald's, whose gnarly shrimp patty burgers and red bean ice cream are screamingly popular. One shudders as the possibilities: Green tea teriyaki chicken? Taro 'n' cold cuts classic? Fragrant fish ball sub? (We did hear talk of a Peking Duck sub though, and have salivated over that rumor ever since.) more ›

We'd like to inform all our male readers, and those that could pass for male, that there's still time to take advantage of the 'Man Day' promotion from McDonald's. more ›

Did you know Domino's Pizza was in Shanghai? Apparently, the company came here in 2008 but, unlike Papa John's or Pizza Hut, made barely a ripple in the foreign-outlets-coming-to-China news. more ›

A few weeks ago, Guangzhou's Southern Weekly had a very interesting feature on the McRefugees - people who, due to low pay or homelessness, spend their nights at 24-hour fast food restaurants - living in Shanghai's Xujiahui area. They were thrown into the spotlight in March, when one man stabbed a McDonalds employee who tried to kick him out. more ›

Fast food workers everywhere are breathing a sigh of relief, now that the McDonalds stabber has allegedly been caught. The man, surnamed Yang, was found in Shanxi Province on Sunday and brought back to Shanghai to face judgment. Police said they found out where he went by going through CCTV (closed circuit, not the station) footage from anywhere they thought he might have gone. As Yang awaits trial, the Mcdonalds employee's - Li Feng - family awaits compensation since Li died on the job. more ›

It's been ages since we heard any news of Krispy Kreme, the American donut slinger which was supposed to come to our shores sometime "soon" over eight months ago. But it seems that Cityweekend has now found an actual store - and it says it will finally open in "early December 2009." When it does do its non-specific opening day, the first 200 people lined up at the door will receive a "special surprise." So uh... Krispy Kreme stake out anybody? more ›

Oh the artery-clogging glory of it all! There are few words to express our good, old fashioned love of American fast food, but in celebration of the first Carl's Jr. to open in China, we figured we'd find a few grade-A words to celebrate. In case you've never been in the States, Carl's Jr. is a bastion of burgers, fries and shakes, all served to order and in heaping portions à la mode américaine glutton. more ›

Has KFC been substituting cod fish in its food with some other type of species? According to Xinmin, an insider at the fast food establishment has alleged that it uses a species of fish called "Dragon Cod" (龙鳕鱼) instead. more ›

CNReviews has discovered what looks to be one of the first Carl’s Jr. to hit Shanghai. Snapped in Raffles City Mall near People’s Square was this very promising looking construction setup promising charbroiled goodness from 卡乐星 (ka le xing). The burgers in the ad look absolutely huge, though what burgers in ads don’t? When exactly will we get to see how closely they live up to the hype? We‘re not sure! They were supposed to have come by March this year already. more ›

McDonalds ain't messing around with its China strategy. Having already spread out its home delivery service last year, and then lowered prices for its popular items on the China menu two months ago, it's now announced plans for a major hiring spree. more ›

• Construction starts on rail link [Shanghai Daily] "Construction on the 29.68-billion-yuan (US$4.34 billion) Shanghai-Hangzhou high-speed railway started yesterday at Fengjing area in Shanghai. The project, which is expected to be completed before the 2010 Shanghai World Expo, will cut the journey between the two cities to 38 minutes from the current one hour or more and is part of a plan to cut travel time between any two cities in the Yangtze River Delta Region to within one hour."
• Has Western Fast Food Hit a Wall in China? [Mark's China Blog] "I can't say that I'm that surprised that Chinese people may move away from eating western fast food as much as they have been. First, western fast food joints in China aren't cheap. In America, when you eat the crap that fast food places serve up you at least don't have to spend much money. That can't be said for China."
• China: ‘Can I supersize my stimulus?’ [FT Alphaville] "Expectations are growing China could super-size its stimulus package when it votes on the budget next week, especially since the draft currently being considered already foresees a record-breaking fiscal deficit for the country in 2009 of some 950bn yuan (higher than previously expected)."

Krispy Kreme might be feeling the squeeze in the United States, but fears of bankruptcy hasn't stopped the uber-delicious donut purveyor from entering China. According to Brand Republic, the shop has partnered with BBDO Guerrero to expand overseas and plans to open up 35 stores over the next five years in Shanghai, Beijing and Tianjin. Yikes! Even more places selling delicious sugar-glazed fried bread? Be still our expanding waistlines. more ›

McDonalds will be cutting prices for many popular items on its China menu. Popular options like the Filet-O-Fish, Double Cheeseburger, McNuggets, McPuff, and the Mala Pork Burger, are all getting a nice discount. Sure, it's still more expensive than local food, but all expats craving their fast food fix can now do it even cheaper. Yay, recession! Source: Straits Times more ›

At the side of the Maglev station, between the two terminals, three new restaurants are opening at Pudong Airport on August 10 (Sunday). There is a new KFC (for those who can't walk 5 meters to the existing branch), a Pizza Hut, and a Chinese fast-food joint. Also opening soon is a branch of the noodle chain that features Bruce Lee wearing the "Game Of Death" yellow tracksuit as their logo (Note to self: find out name of that restaurant!). more ›

With the world looking at China leading up to the Games, China continues to make a concerted effort to meet the social standards of Western developed countries. In addition to public service announcements teaching people to be civil to each other, the powers that be (in this case the Jing'an Municipality) have have even gone as far as launching a volunteer guerrilla campaign to bribe people with small gifts to clear their tables at McDonald's and KFC. more ›

From Sexy Beijing:

American style fast food is big in China these days and chains like McDonald's continue to expand across this massive market. At the same time, young Chinese are fatter than their parents were. Coincidence?

Thou shalt not collude on pricing, the regulatory god said unto the Moses of industries in most countries, including China. But the instant noodle cabal either did not hear it or turned a deaf ear. In late July, noodle makers joined forces in raising prices by about 20 percent, and as much as 40 percent for some products.After less than three weeks of regulatory pressure, media assailing and public discontent, the industry backed down, apologized and initiated an across-the-board price cut. Is this a triumph of consumer rights and regulatory protection? Yes ... hmm maybe. more ›

Shanghaiist is somewhat of a frequent flyer to Beijing, and because he isn't employed by some big multinational but rather runs his own little business, he can only afford to put himself on cattle class and often has to scour the internet for the cheapest available deals. We especially love this nifty little function on eLong.com which shows you the cheapest available flight within a week of your selected departure date. That has worked to our advantage in the past because we have relatively flexible schedules, and we have flown to Beijing for as low as RMB530 (that's RMB400 for the ticket and RMB130 for miscellaneous taxes) on Hainan Airlines. more ›

With the sun out, the temperatures high, one can only think of one thing-- what's going on in the World of the -ist's? more ›

Even though we are way way past school age, we still get a little melancholy at the close of summer. Fortunately, our friends across the -ist network know that the shenanigans don't need to end just because the big yellow buses are back on the roads. So, grab your sunscreen and your favorite hangover cure, as we take a tour of end of summer fun from -ist cities all over the damn place. more ›

SFist commeters pose for before and aftershocks when the mayor commemorates a 1906 earthquake...at 4:30 in the morning. A hot tip on the Chronicle vending machines comes in and the SFist war correspondent risks life and limb to post this dispatch from the frontlines. more ›

Shanghaiist has always been miffed by KFC’s roaring success in China. In a country where fine dining is the national pastime, how did something as mundane as fried chicken capture the discerning palettes of 1.4 billion Chinese? Well, thanks to the good people at Yum Brand China’s (KFC’s parent company) marketing department, we now know why -- eating fried chicken makes you smarter and, better yet, helps you get the chicks, too! (No pun intended.) more ›