The term “fast food” comes from a period of history when people in the first cities had little time to cook and eat healthy foods. Obviously, this type of food evolved and spread in China as well. The previous poster’s comment implied that Chinese food was not fast food, but in reality, the Chinese have many kinds of different foods that are often considered junk food. Most people have only tried a small subset of Chinese cuisine and have only eaten westernized versions of it.
The success of McDonald’s in China spurred a fast food industry in China. Many international brands have enjoyed visible success in the country and have carved out a share of the $48 billion Chinese fast food market. As urban incomes have increased by 40 percent from 1999 to 2003, city-dwellers are inclined to grab food on the run. McDonalds sales in China have risen more than four times faster than in the United States.
Many Western-style foods have saturated fat, high energy density, and high glycemic load. They also typically have large serving sizes. Conversely, a traditional rural Chinese diet is characterized by low cholesterol and plant-based protein, along with a small amount of dietary fat. These factors make Chinese food more nutritious and less processed than Western-style food. You can read more about the controversies surrounding McDonalds in this article.
