Development History of

Makye Ame Tibetan Restaurant Chain

Tsering Wangqing, founder of the brand name “Makye Ame”, opened the first Makye Ame restaurant in an ancient yellow building located at the southeast corner of the Barkhor Street in Lhasa in the year 1997. By integrating modern management philosophies into daily operations and diversifying Tibetan cuisine based on traditional Tibetan flavor, Tsering Wangqing has created a new model of catering business which features both traditional and innovative Tibetan food style. The restaurant soon attracted a great number of tourists from all over the world owing to its unique location as well as its rich cultural features. As a result, the name of “Makye Ame” was enthusiastically talked about by the travelers and was quickly spread to many countries.

In 2001, Makye Ame began to establish its chain operation system, and opened its first branch outside Tibetan region at Xiu Shui Nan Jie, Jianguomenwai in Chaoyang District in Beijing. With its rich Tibetan cultural atmosphere, the restaurant attracted a large number of both domestic and foreign customers within a short period of time. It was particularly popular with people from circles of literature and art, commercial and political sectors, and thus became a place frequently visited by celebrities in Beijing. Gradually, the brand “Makye Ame” has gain a secure foothold in the Beijing market and has been known by more and more people.

In 2003, at the invitation of Diqing Tibetan Autonomous Prefecture of Yunnan Province, Makye Ame and Diqing Prefecture jointly opened “Makye Ame • Shangri-la Tibetan Style Palace” in Kunming, capital of Yunnan. The Diqing Prefecture government tried to show to the outside world, through the excellent cultural brand of “Makye Ame”, the wonderful natural scenery and ethnic culture of Shangri-la, and to promote development of the local tourism. Such an attempt has reaped great success. Also it reflects unlimited potential of the brand “Makye Ame”.

Makye Ame opened its second branch in Beijing (i.e. the fourth branch in total) to the north of the Tuanjie Lake in Chaoyang District in the year 2005. This new restaurant has improved substantially in many aspects, e.g. from size to decoration, from cultural connotation to service mode. Makye Ame presented to its old and new customers a more mature and elegant image, meanwhile opened up for itself a brand new space for development.

In April 2007, Makye Ame Tibetan Restaurant Chain won the “National Prize of Outstanding Enterprise of Catering Industry” issued by China Cuisine Association, the highest authority of China’s catering industry. In December 2008, the trademark of Makye Ame was recognized as “Famous Trademark of Tibetan Autonomous Region” by the Famous Trademark Evaluation Committee of Tibetan Autonomous Region. In January 2009, the brand of Makye Ame was awarded “One of the Ten Infusive Brands of China’s Catering Industry for the year 2008” on “the Fifth Summit Forum of Brand Influence of China”.

Since 2009, a series of new projects including the Makye Ame Tibetan Garden Restaurant (in Lhasa) will be started soon. According to the long-term development strategy of the enterprise, Makye Ame will not only continue to consolidate and expand its domestic market but also try its best to open up the overseas market in the future.