Chyi Luu and Shanghai correspondent Chen Simeng.
视频:Media
Hotpot is a traditional Chinese dish. In almost every Chinese city, hotpot restaurants are an integral part of the street lines. In today's Being Chinese Special Series, CRI's Chen Simeng will introduce you to a hotpot restaurant owner, who moved his small business from Taipei to Shanghai to bond his family more closely.
Reporter: For most Chinese living on the mainland, the names Chyi Yu and Chyi Chin are by no means unfamiliar. With a series of beautiful songs, the two singers, a sister and a brother from Taiwan, spread their fame not only in the island but also across the Straits as far back as 20 years ago.
But today my story is not about these renowned singers, but about their elder brother Chyi Luu, a man who chose a different life from his sister and brother - doing business.
The 58-year-old man opened a hot-pot restaurant in Shanghai six years ago, and has been striving to keep up the store, and making it a home for his family.
Our story starts 60 years ago…
Chyi Luu's parents were born in northeast China and went to Taiwan in 1949. In memory of the old land, they named their three children after names of places on the mainland.
"The abbreviated name of Shandong Province is Lu, so I was called Chyi Luu. The short name for Henan Province is Yu. That's where my sister Chyi Yu's name came. Shaanxi Province is also called Qin, and so that was how Chyi Chin's name worked out."
Chyi Luu's father was very strict and even harsh on his children. At the age of 24, Chyi Luu was sent alone to Japan. With total ignorance of the Japanese language and only enough money to support his first year there, he had to fight to make a living.
In the following twelve years, the adamant young man moved among different countries, from Japan to Malaysia, to New Zealand and Singapore. Work and study filled his days, and gradually, his contacts with home became fewer and fewer.
"At that time, I felt completely excommunicated from my family. I was on my own, striving to survive."
When he returned home in 1986, he found it difficult to fit into the family again.
His younger sister and brother had both become hot singing stars in Taiwan.
"They were already established singers. Their lives were very different from mine, not to speak of the effect of the little communications we had while I was abroad. So when I went back home, I felt the cold distance and a sense of loss."
Several years later, his father's death deeply shook Chyi Luu.
"Father told us on his deathbed that the biggest benefit this fatal disease had brought to him was the getting-together of the entire family."
The last words from his father made Chyi Luu suddenly realize the importance of family. As the eldest son, he felt responsible to bind the family together more tightly. At this point, an opportunity presented itself.
"Once, by chance, Chyi Chin invited me and some friends from his circle to dinner, and he cooked spicy hot-pot to treat us. He was good at it. Then someone advocated opening a spicy hot-pot restaurant in Taipei. They asked me to manage it."
Hot-pot is a traditional communal dish in China. It consists of a simmering pot of water at the center of the dining table, in which raw food can be boiled.
For generations, the Chyi family had honored the northern Chinese tradition of getting together to enjoy hot pot during festivals.
Despite having no restaurant experience, the elder brother immediately took the advice, in that he considered it a great opportunity to become closer to his brother and sister. For him, the restaurant was not merely a business, but a haven for his family. He named it "Chila", literally means "Chyi family's spicy food".
Upon entering the restaurant, you can easily find the logo, the Chinese character Chyi, being everywhere throughout the restaurant.
With Chyi Luu and his wife Chang Hsiuching's arduous efforts, plus the popularity of pop singer Chyi Chin, the business in Taipei went well. And the elder brother also received what he wanted.
"During the first several years, Chyi Chin came to the restaurant three or four times a month. Every time he came, his first words were 'where's my brother'. 'In the kitchen', he was answered. Then he came to the kitchen, 'here I come, bro'. At that moment, I was very satisfied."
A few years following the success of the Taipei store, Chyi Luu cast his eyes on Shanghai.
"During that period, Shanghai was a popular word in Taipei. Actually, there were barely any of my customers who did not talk about Shanghai at the dining table. Meanwhile, it was quite clear that the economy of Taiwan was heading downward."
But another important reason driving him to move from Taipei to Shanghai was his siblings' popularity across the Straits, particularly for Chyi Chin, who had already settled in the mainland for better career development.
In 2001, the Shanghai Chila opened. Two years later, he closed the store in Taipei and together with his wife, focused on their business in the eastern commercial hub.
However, as they were just about to dig a bonanza in the metropolis, dark days for restaurants befell.
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