Bringing the flavor of france to Beijing

The two sides sign a bilateral cooperation agreement to open a Maxim's restaurant in Beijing in 1982.

A culinary breakthrough

As one of the first batch of 13 chefs sent to study French cuisine in Paris after the "cultural revolution" (1966-76), Shan spent three months in the French capital in 1982. Before that, his specialty was Chinese cuisine, and he knew nothing about Western food.

None of the first batch of Chinese culinary students spoke a word of French, so Shan learned the secrets with the help of a translator dispatched by the Chinese government, and by observing the body language of the French chefs.

He studied with the French chefs in the kitchen 14 hours a day and spent his evenings back at his lodging, making notes.

"At that time, we had to pass a political examination and sign a confidentiality agreement before going abroad," Shan says.

"According to the agreement, we were required to line up even when going into the street from the kitchen." The Chinese students seldom had any leisure time during their three months in France. "The rooftop was our only refuge when we were exhausted," he says, adding that it may seem unbelievable to young people nowadays.

In one of the most impressive moments during their stay, the 13 Chinese apprentices were invited by Francois Mitterrand, France's president at the time, to join him on his reviewing stand for the Bastille Day parade on July 14, 1983.

When Shan returned from France, Maxim's Beijing opened. Under a bilateral agreement, the Chinese hold a 51 percent stake in the business with the French holding the remaining 49 percent.

"At the beginning of the 1980s, Beijing didn't have as many restaurants serving different kinds of food as now," He Guangyin, manager of Maxim's De Paris in Beijing, says. "Foreigners couldn't find home cooking."

In those days, 70 to 80 percent of the customers were foreigners, and entertainers were also frequent guests.

The restaurant established a formal dress code for its customers. "If they forgot, we would rent potential customers the appropriate clothing. "The average bill in our restaurant was around 200 yuan ($33), but the average monthly salary was about 40 yuan," He says, adding that at the time, dinner at the restaurant was an expensive treat for ordinary residents.