What Happened When China Legalized Restaurants

In the 1980s and ‘90s, China went through a massive economic transformation. New government policies allowed everyday people to open their own businesses and accumulate wealth. Rural folks moved to cities in huge numbers in search of opportunity. And for the first time, privately-owned restaurants were allowed to open. In the 40 years since, an entire restaurant scene has been created — something prior generations could never have imagined. So what does this scene look like? Dan travels to Beijing to find out. His first stop is at one of the most exclusive restaurants in the city, Chef 1996 , for a 16-course dinner and a chat with the owners. The next day he hits up a beloved hot pot chain, Haidilao , where waiters put on dance performances with noodles, manicures are offered, and robots whiz around delivering dishes. The Sporkful production team includes Dan Pashman, Emma Morgenstern, Andres O'Hara, Kameel Stanley, Jared O'Connell, and India Rice. Special thanks to Yebu Ji , Weihang Li and Jason Tang. Right now, Sporkful listeners can get three months free of the SiriusXM app by going to siriusxm.com/sporkful . Get all your favorite podcasts, more than 200 ad-free music channels curated by genre and era, and live sports coverage with the SiriusXM app. Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.

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What Happened When China Legalized Restaurants is an episode from The Sporkful by SiriusXM Podcasts.

This episode is 00:37:19 long.

This episode was published on Mar 23, 2026.

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