Jade Gray: Beijing, this is my home

Jade Gray, Founder of Restaurant Chain Gung Ho: Beijing, this is my home

My name is Lei Jiade, English name is Jade Gray .I came to Beijing from New Zealand, I'm a pizza restaurant entrepreneur. I first came to Beijing in 1996.The most conspicuous thing then was that coal was widely used for heating in the hutongs. The air was really dirty in winter. And sky was usually grey. But now in the winters of 2017 and 2018 .I've never seen such blue skies in Beijing before. It’s really a big change.I opened my first restaurant in 2003. Our store adhere to the concept of sustainable development. We used a lot of recycled materials for decoration .For example, after the renovation of the hutongs, we used the waste wood. In other respects, considering that heavy use of plastic packaging is a major problem in the restaurant industry,we use iron straws now. Besides, we remind you on our menu that. If you tell our waiter that you've eaten everything ordered. And wasted nothing, we'll give you a discount. In 2003, when we started some of these projects. People were hardly impressed. But things have changed a lot in the past couple of years,now when we tell people why we use recycled materials.They really appreciate it, and are very supportive. More obviously, young Beijingers are more acceptive of such environmentally friendly concepts. I think the Chinese government has been taking environmental protection quite seriously in recent years. I see many projects for environmental protection, which makes me very happy .The hot water we use. The government gave us a subsidy for switching to natural gas as an environmentally friendly way .Students from Peking University also cooperate with our company. They come to our company for internship. And learn how to do environmentally friendly business models. So that's pretty obvious progress.I think the environmental benefits will become more apparent over the years.My name is Jade Gray. I’m from New Zealand. And I’m a Pizza Boss here in Beijing.I really love China .I love Beijing. I really hope Beijing becomes a more and more environmentally friendly place, because this is my hometown.