Feeding the taste for Chinese cuisine

Fu Man Yuan Dumpling City restaurant owned by Liza Lee from Harbin, China — LOW LAY PHON/The Star

MALAYSIAN restaurants, eateries, cafes, and milk tea shops owned or co-owned by Chinese nationals have taken off sharply in the past 20 years.

In 2004, these food outlets numbered about 20, dotting the famed Pudu district in Kuala Lumpur. That number has grown at least 500 times to about 10,000 nationwide, according to the Malaysian Chinese Restaurant Association (MCRA).