Company News - 23 February 2018

Spring Festival Special | A delicious bite of Davos

Wherever there are Chinese people, there are tastes of Chinese food, even in Davos, the town of snow in miles away……

A bite of Davos

In the broad and profound Chinese culture, all the cuisines from different places are the fusion of various ingredients. If described in the metaphor of love, some cuisines are the perfect marriages, some are touching encounters, and some are the regret of not having met earlier. The westerners call it “destiny”, and Chinese call it “karma”.

And this echoes with the purpose of World Economic Forum Annual Meeting. The elites and leaders from fields in politics, economics, business, and academics travelled from all over the world to gather in Davos to discuss, debate and communicate, presenting a spiritual feast.

As the only Hong Kong financial institution in World Economic Forum’s global strategic partners, AMTD for the first time, established AMTD Corporate Centre during this year’s conference. This is the first time in history that a Hong Kong company, and as one of the few Chinese enterprises to set corporate centre in Davos annual meeting, demonstrating to the world the charisma of Pearl of the Orient.

When old and new friends get together, delicious food is a must. Davos AMTD Corporate Centre specially invited the owner of a beef ramen restaurant, Mr. Wang and his mother to come to Davos and served his signature dishes – hot beef ramen and tasty dumplings.

During the four days of Davos Annual Meeting, AMTD specially invited Mr. Wang and his mother to cook many delicate cuisines, including freshly made ramen and dumplings.

To ensure the authentic flavour of beef ramen, AMTD team and Mr. Wang specially brought the most pure Chinese flour and hundreds of condiments, and arrived a few days in advance before opening to purchase the freshest beef. At Davos AMTD Corporate Centre, Mr. Wang insisted on hand making for every bowl of beef noodle, and stewed the soup for over 5 hours, presenting the most delicious soup and the best chewy texture of noodle. Adding the secret chili sauce into the beef noodle unleashed the flavour of beef soup perfectly. Everyone highly enjoyed and praised the tasty food.

The dumplings made by Mr. Wang’s mother were also remarkable, fresh stuffing in thin skin, crystal and well-stacked, enjoyed by countless Chinese and foreign friends. In Davos’ heavy snow, such a bowl of hot beef ramen and authentic dumplings were so warm and enjoyable.

Making friends while enjoying tasty food

Making friends while enjoying tasty food has always been the tradition for Chinese people. No matter where each one comes from, sharing a good cuisine and drink will help bridge the friendship imperceptibly.

At Davos AMTD Corporate Centre, we presented the most traditional Chinese cuisine for friends from all over the world, and deepened our friendship with our hometown flavours. While enjoying a few simple appetizer, one braised fish, one pot of soup, and a bowl of beef ramen, old friends meeting new friends, the room was lightened with immense joy and happiness.

At Davos AMTD Corporate Centre, we presented the most traditional Chinese cuisine for friends from all over the world, and deepened our friendship with our hometown flavours

While enjoying a few simple appetizer, one braised fish, one pot of soup, and a bowl of beef ramen, old friends meeting new friends, the room was lightened with immense joy and happiness

New Hong Kong People

Ramen, aka. Hand-drawn noodle, is popular in north of China. It is made by repeatedly stretching and folding the dough until the dough is stretched into thin strands. Mr. Wang in Hong Kong is originally from China’s North-eastern region. He moved to Hong Kong with his mother when he was 18, and runs a beef ramen restaurant. Although the restaurant is not big, but they insisted on hand-making and fresh ingredients. By working hard throughout the year, the restaurant gradually attracted a group of faithful customers and became well known.

In the past 20 years, there were more and more Chinese people from mainland in Hong Kong. They can be the professional elites in Central; or white-collars who just graduated; or just like Mr. Wang, who held a one-way permit and waited for the reunion with his families, and these people are called the “New Hong Kong People”.

During the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting, AMTD hosted “AMTD – Hong Kong Night”, and invited Mrs Carrie Lam, the Chief Executive of the HKSAR to officiate the event and deliver opening speech. Over 300 leaders and elites in the fields of politics, business, academics, and media from across the global were invited. This is the first time in nearly 50 years of Davos history, that a grand “Hong Kong Night” event is hosted by a Hong Kong enterprise with the theme of Hong Kong. And it is the first time that Hong Kong, as the Asian financial centre, demonstrated to the world its incredible achievements in 20 years after the handover. These achievements are not possible without the “New Hong Kong People” like Mr. Wang. They joined hand in hand with the local Hong Kong people and contributed to the progression and realization of dreams of Chinese people, with the spirit of perseverance and hardworking.

Mr. Wang (right) regards this Davos trip as a rare experience for himself and his mother (left). He will continue to make efforts to grow his career and promote Chinese ramen culture