New restaurant offers spicy choice

Beijing foodies who enjoy Sichuan hotpot now have something to cheer about - the highly popular restaurant Dian Tai Xiang from Chengdu has finally made its way to the Chinese capital.

While the new restaurant has only been open for slightly over a month, business has been brisk, much to the chagrin of its fans - customers have had to queue for as long as seven hours for a table.

Dian Tai Xiang's chef-owner Tang Yi says that it took him seven years to persuade Liu Peng, a hotpot master in Chongqing, to take him on as an apprentice.

After three years of learning the craft, Tang opened Dian Tai Xiang, which is named after the alley in Chongqing where Liu earned his chops at a hotpot eatery called Big Dragon 20 years ago.