China News Service, August 17th. According to Pakistan's "China Business Daily", many Chinese colleges and universities gather on Xueqing Road in Beijing.
A Pakistani restaurant known as the "Light of Haidian" has become the second canteen in the hearts of many students nearby.
This place named after "zam zam" is filled with daily diners.
At the moment when Sino-Pakistani relations are heating up, this restaurant that regards "making authentic Indian-Pakistani dishes" as its standard has become more and more with the taste of "witnessing the friendship between China and Pakistan".
"Zam zam" means "holy water" in Pakistani.
The pronunciation is wonderfully in line with the "snap, smack, smack, smack" in Beijing dialect.
Therefore, the story of the restaurant has the meaning of "fusion" from the beginning.
To open a store in a foreign country, you need to "smack" carefully
Pushing open the door of the restaurant, a strong curry flavor instantly swept the entire nasal cavity.
"Beef special curry, Pakistani tempura, scallion naan." Hammad Zaheer (hereinafter referred to as Ad), the owner of this Pakistani cafeteria, counted the delicacies in front of him.
Adelaide, now 28, graduated from Wuhan Yangtze University.
Four years ago, he opened a Pakistani restaurant in the local area, and later moved to Beijing.
After years of market competition, the "zam zam" restaurant has gradually formed a unique restaurant feature.
"In order to let people eat authentic Indian and Pakistani cuisine, most of our employees are Pakistani." Ade added, "If we want to open stores in other countries, we will put more sugar in the drinks. Like Chinese people do not like to eat sweets. Food, we launched refreshing mint drinks."
The so-called: The fragrance of wine is not afraid of the deep alley.
In addition to daily diners, some companies and institutions have also ordered meals here.
"For example, the Pakistani Embassy School, some colleges in nearby universities, etc." In the Ader mobile phone, there are still pictures of the Pakistani ambassador to China eating in the store and taking photos with the restaurant employees.
A "social party" that carries stories
A blackboard is hung in the dining area of the restaurant.
It is full of messages left to the restaurant by diners in Pakistani, English, Japanese, and Chinese.
It's not so much a commercial restaurant, it's more like a'social party'.
"For example, there are two tables of people eating here. One table is foreigners from Pakistan, the other table is Chinese, but if they eat here for more than 30 minutes, they will talk to each other."
"Warmness" is Ade's hope for this restaurant.
"Our store is still open during the epidemic. Some international students eat here without returning to China. For the customers and for the staff in the store, we have persisted to this day." Ad said.
There is another Pakistani restaurant about three kilometers away from "zam zam".
Ade said that the owner of that store is also Pakistani.
It was the city of Beijing that gave the two foreigners the rare fate of'meeting in a stranger's hometown'.
"Batieqing" carried in the restaurant
Looking around this 100-square-meter restaurant, there are many China-Pakistan elements: the China-Pakistan map on the wall, the national flags of the two countries hanging near the counter, the China-Pakistan cartoon drawn by Chinese children...
After 10 years of living in China, Adelaide has long regarded Beijing as his own home.
In Ad's experience, there was something else that inspired him to take root in China.
"This shop was very busy when it first opened. One day I saw two Chinese aunts cleaning the table after eating, saying that we were too busy to do something within our means."
2021 marks the 70th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Pakistan.
Ade believes: "No matter in normal or extraordinary times, the people of China and Pakistan get along like family members. The mutual help between big countries and small families is a natural phenomenon."
In the future business map of Adelaide, this Indian-Pakistani restaurant in Beijing is only the first stop.
He hopes that similar Indian and Pakistani restaurants will "bloom everywhere" in China.
"I hope to use the Pakistani restaurant as a window to show the Indian and Pakistani food and culture to the Chinese, and on the other hand, to introduce Chinese culture to the Pakistani people."
"After the epidemic is over, I hope that more Chinese will visit Pakistan and let them know that Pakistanis also like them." At the end of the interview, Ade said.