“My children know all the types of Chinese food and order it themselves in their original names,” says Mohammed Al-Ghamdi. Al-Ghamdi is one of many residents of Jeddah whose family has developed a passion for Chinese food and the more than 150 Chinese restaurants that now grace the city. Their unique menus and architectural styles represent in the Kingdom what has become a worldwide economic force of no small influence. Chinese restaurants first started to appear in Jeddah two decades ago, and their distinctive names became a force to compete with the most famous American fast food outlets that have pervaded in the city for a long time. The success of the Chinese here is put down by some to the strength of Chinese culture and its ability to overshadow other modern Asian nations, such as Japan and Taiwan. They also point to the Chinese passion for investment and creating commercial centers in their own style to accompany the locations of their restaurants and offer a variety of Chinese products. “Whenever I come to Jeddah I see the influence,” says Mohammed Sa'ed Al-Thubeiti, a frequent visitor to the city. “You can see it in products on sale, the food that's available and the architecture.” “Thirty years ago the Chinese culture had absolutely no influence on the life of Jeddah,” says Majid Salim. “It would appear that the huge developments that China has gone through in recent years have left the mark of Chinese lifestyle on the rest of the world. Cheap and fake Chinese goods have invaded most of the Kingdom's markets with amazing speed, and shortly after, Chinese restaurants started to open up offering their distinctive type of Asian cuisine. Now lots of Saudi families regularly frequent them, whereas before it was mostly people from the Asian community.” The Chinese influx has not just stopped at food and products and architecture, however. There are now language centers offering courses in Chinese and Chinese culture, paralleling, and in some instances surpassing, their American and European counterparts. It should not be ruled out that Chinese culture may find a greater demand in the future than the demand for Western cultures, given the proximity between Arab cultures and Asian cultures due to their closeness geographically. “I expect the number of Chinese restaurants in Jeddah to rise dramatically in the next few years,” says Waleed Salim of the Restaurants Committee at the Jeddah Chamber of Commerce and Industry. “Chinese food is becoming increasingly popular, and the restaurants serve the same dishes as are served in China which are notable for their nutritional quality and their prices which are relatively cheap when compared to other options.”
