Stateside Chinese Food

July 26 of this year was particu- larly festive in New York City. Many passersby stopped to enjoy Chinese lion dances accompanied by drums and gongs in front of J. King Seafood Plaza on Brooklyn Avenue， wondering what the occasion was. Actually， rather than a Chinese holiday， it was a celebration to the founding of the New York Branch of the American Chinese Restaurant Alliance（ACRA）， which was registered in Florida six months ago. The celebration was grand， attended by over 300 Chinese and American notables， including Zhong Ruiming， Deputy Consul-General of the Chinese Consulate-General in New York， Consul Wang Jun， founders of ACRA， representatives of New York congressmen Felix W. Ortiz and William Colton， city councilors Mark Treyger and Carlos Menchaca， and leaders of overseas Chinese committees in New York.

Founded in January 2014， ACRA is a non-governmental， non-profit organization focused on the interests of Chinese restaurants across the United States. Its members represent Chinese restaurants as well as media and other related peripheral industries such as finance， insurance， energy， real estate， and e-commerce.

ACRA was established to spread the culture of Chinese food， enhance the group purchasing power of its members， and promote the healthy development of the Chinese food industry.

The New York Branch was founded in hopes of expanding service coverage， diversifying services， and facilitating investment in Chinese food restaurants in New York.

Zhao Rui， chairman of the ACRA， noted that over the six months since its establishment， the organization has developed a strong membership base， published Chinese and English editions of the journal Taste of China， and established a website. It hopes to launch a cable TV network as well as branches in other areas. New York is the largest city in the United States， with a healthy supply of labor and sufficient capital reserves， which helps businesses serving Chinese food through the collaboration with American Chinese Society of Catering Services.

John S. Chan， president of ACRA’s New York Branch， owns J. King Seafood Plaza. “Over one third of the employees of the more than 46，000 Chinese restaurants in the United States are Chinese，” Chan explains. “However， most of the time， their benefits are not guaranteed. That’s why we established the New York Branch – a platform for communication and protection of Chinese employees’ rights and interests.”

John S. Chan was elected president of the New York Branch， Chen Jianrong， president of the American Chinese Society of Catering Services was appointed executive-president， and Wu Zhaoxi， owner of HaNa Asian Restaurant， became supervising-president.

Political figures at all levels from New York， leadership of major organizations， and Zhong Ruiming， Deputy Consul-General of the Chinese Consulate-General in New York， expressed congratulations to the leading body， and the Chinese joint committee of mass organizations in New York gifted them a painting of six horses worth 30，000 yuan.

The founding of the New York Branch mirrors the rapid progress of the ACRA in the United States， awakening awareness of rights as well as great determination to promote Chinese food culture abroad.

Well-known overseas Chinese figures based in Houston， including Liu Tao and Wang Chengli， serve as advisors to the ACRA. The editor-in-chief of shijiemingren.com （world who’s who） also participated in the inauguration of the New York Branch after the website reported on the founding of the ACRA earlier this year.