Having graduated in an Australian university in 2016, Lee Kwok-ming and Yip Wai-chun came back to China with an ambitious dream to start their own business in the Guangdong- Hong Kong-Macao Greater Bay Area.

Lee and Yip said they ‘fell in love at the first sight’ with Foshan and opened their first restaurant in Lingnan Tiandi after having done a series of market research in cities including Hong Kong, Guangzhou and Shenzhen.

"We found young people in Foshan have strong consumption ability even compared to Hong Kong. Meanwhile, the costs to start a business here are relatively low. The rent, salary levels are all lower than Hong Kong," said Yip Wai-chun.

Lingnan Tiandi is an urban regeneration project in Foshan which maintains traditional Lingnan-styled buildings while introducing commercial entities attractive to young people. The project has been a popular tourist destination in the Greater Bay Area, which attracted more than 26 million tourists in 2019.

In addition, Lee and Yip consider the similar cultural background between Hong Kong and Guangdong is vital to the development of their business. "We found young people here in Guangdong are actually very similar to the young people in Hong Kong. They have similar taste in food and fashion. Most of them speak Cantonese though their Mandarin is much better."

Lee and Yip's restaurant has been very popular in Lin Nan Tian Di. Thus far, they have opened 11 restaurants in Greater Bay Area cities including Guangzhou, Shenzhen, Dongguan and Zhuhai.

"It's obvious that we can find much more opportunities here. My advice to young people in Hong Kong would be-Come and have a look with your own eyes, don’t just listen to others. When we just arrived in Foshan, we found it was easy to have more insight into the local market and the ways to start a business here through the welcoming Foshan government officials and the Hong Kong entrepreneurs of the Chamber of Commerce," said Yip.

Author: Jasmine

Editor: Keane, Jerry