OF HAMBURGER AND SOCIAL SPACE tation of others, in accord with images, in responses to fashions, out of habit, without need for thought or self-scrutiny. The result is that the styles of in- teraction that are encouraged in restaurants produce sociality without much individuality, which is an"uncivilized sociality. Concurring with Finkelstein's classification of restaurants, Allen Shelton proceeds further to analyze how restaurants as a theater can shape customers' thoughts and actions. Shelton argues that the cultural codes of restaurants are just as important as the food codes analyzed by Mary douglas, Levi-Strauss, and many others. He concludes chat the restaurant is an organized expenence using and transforming the raw objects of space, words, and tastes into a coded experience of social struc tures. ll Rick Fantasia's analysis of the fast-food industry in France is also il- luminating in this respect. He points out that because McDonalds represents an exotic Other"its outlets attract many young French customers who want to explore a different kind of social space-an "American place. "12 In light of the studies of both the text and context of food consumption I first revew the development of Western fast food and the local responses in Beijing during the period 1987 to 1996. Next I examine the cultural sym bolism of American fast food, the meanings of objects and physical place in fast-food restaurants, the consumer groups, and the use of public space in fast-food outlets. I then discuss the creation of a new social space in fast-food restaurants. In my opinion, the transformation of fast-food establishments from eating place to social space is the key to understanding the popularity of fast-food consumption in Beijing, and it is the major reason why local com- petitors have yet to successfully challenge the American fast-food chains. This study is based on both ethnographic evidence collected during my fieldwork in 1994(August to October)and documentary data published in Chinese ewspapers, popular magazines, and academicjournals during the 1987-96 period. Since McDonalds is the ultimate icon of American fast food abroad and the most successful competitor in Beijings fast-food market, McDon- ald'srestaurants were the primary place and object for my research, although I also consider other fast-food outlets and compare them with McDonalds In certain respects I3 FAST-FOOD FEVER IN BEIJING, 1987 TO1996 Fast food is not indigenous to Chinese society. It first appeared as an exotic -phenomenon- in novels- and movies imported from abroad and then entered bid 11. Shelton 199o,p. 515 12. See Fantasia 1995, pp. 213-15 13. For an anthropological study of sociocultural encounters at Mc Donalds in Hong Kong, Taipei, Beijing Seoul, and Tokyo, see chapters in Watson, ed, 1997