♪ this is guijie street, beijings largest gourmet

district. more than 100 eat ris and bars line the 700 meter street. it's a district that never sleeps. always striving to satisfy the voracious appetite of its customers. the street is a product of china ease economic growth. it's massive appeal attracts custom from all over china. new forms of business can also be seen. no matter how meager, people try to make a living here while others monitor for illegal activity.

the round the clock struggles of people here have shaped what guijie is today. the area encapsulates the rapid changes of modern china. this episode follows 24 hours in this gourmet town. this is beijing, the capital of china. it's a sprawling me prop lis with the population exceedsing 21 million. some 450,000 people flock here every year from all over china. the city and its people are in a constant state of flux. guijie street is located at the center of this ever changing city.

it's 4:00 p.m. and there are few customers around. at one restaurant staff take to the street for a ritual led by the owner. gao yuan is around a province 1,000 kilometers from beijing. he owns seven restaurants on guijie street and with 400 employees he's become the area's most successful entrepreneur.

this is a weekly meeting. it's meant to motivate employees and foster a sense of belonging. his business model has changed drastically over the last ten years.

by 7:00 p.m., customers are lining up to get into the restaurant. summer is guijie street's busiest season. the restaurant's most popular dish is cray fish with hot peppers and chinese peppers. he revamps the menu every two months predikcting what customes will want, always taking initiative and setting new trends.

this spicy hot crawfish dish was a hot just as he predicted approximate although he's out performed the competition for ten years, he can't let his guard down. although he's out performed the competition for ten years, he can't let his guard down. although he's out performed the competition for ten years, he can't let his guard down. although he's out performed the competition for ten years, he can't let his guard down. although he's out performed the competition for ten years, he can't let his guard down. although he's out performed the competition for ten years, he can't let his guard down.lthough he's out per competition for ten years, he can't let his guard down.

amidst competition, there's another threatening factor, the lease on his stores. real estate prices have nearly doubled in beijing over the past five years. they are squeezing out the bottom end restaurants. one or two restaurants reportedly go out of business every month. meanwhi

meanwhile, for other businessmen there's no need to worry about rent. no expensive rents for li tiejun. he purchased the rights to use land before guijie street became popular. he's been running a restaurant here for 22 years. in a district that fiercely tries to keep up with trends li has continued to serve simple noodle dishes. a restaurant's reputation depends on the skill of its chefs. as li doesn't have to pay much rent, he can afford to hire

accomplished staff. li says that's the key to surviving in the long term here. as a born and bred beijing citizen, li has witnessed a lot of change in this town. china's rapid economic growth has transformed the life of its citizens. more people work and stay up late. when 24 hour stores began to open in the late 1990s, guijie

became a street that never sleeps. after the 2008 beijing olympics, more foreign tourists began to visit. it's now become one of capital's major gourmet towns. unlike li few of the business onners are locally born. when property prices began to surge many locals chose to leave and live off their rent income. most of li's long time friends

have gone now. at 11:00 p.m., a man hops on his kick scooter. meets with a customer who has just finished dining. he places his kick scooter in the trunk of the customer's car. he is a driver for diners who have consumed alcohol with their meals. he is paid for the distance he drives. these drivers scoot around town in search of customers. this is ren yuzhong.

he landed a job as a driver when he moved here five years ago. ren has received a request. there are around 200 drivers in this area. the system works so the driver closest to the customer is contacted. with more drivers, ren says competition has intensified in recent years. the key to earning more is to hang out close to popular

restaurants. they wait until they are contacted. despite luck being a major factor, demand for drivers increases every year. that may be because the number of passenger cars in the city has increased by more than two million in the past five years.

summer nights are the most lucrative here on guijie street. some people earn more than restaurant managers. although it's midnight, children are out in the streets. they approach restaurant clientele selling flowers. red roses are the most popular. each rose is sold for $1.50. the wholesale price is one-third

that amount. the children are from rural areas. they are out on the streets selling flowers from midnight till dawn. this flower seller is here with her three children. qin xiang migrated here last year from a farming village. she made the difficult decision to work at night because her husband's income is not sufficient to give her children an education. she wants them to at least

receive a basic education. as we film, a group of men approach from the opposite side of the street. they are in charge of security in beijing. they shut down unlicensed vendors. due to their occasional use of violence, they are much feared. the situation becomes tense since selling flowers on the street is an unlicensed business.

these guards who monitor the streets every 30 minutes are also migrants. in other words, migrants crack down on other migrants. xi and her children receive leftovers from restaurants every night. this is where the children low pressure live until school starts.

the family works hard through the hot summer night. ♪ ♪ by 3:00 a.m., leftovers from the evenings meals are piled up in front of each restaurant.

the restaurants on guijie street make enough dishes to feed 10,000 people a day. refuse collectors gather massive amounts of waste generated or m restaurants. with economic development boosting consumption, there's been an increase in refuse. beijing's incinerators are unable to keep up with demand forcing the city to bury waste in land fills in the suburbs.

these land fills are expected to be full to the brim in three or four years. the garbage trucks continue collecting trash until dawn. it's 4:30 in the morning. at the largest restaurant on guijie street most customers have left. the staff enjoy their complimentary meals. after their night shifts they walk home to the nearby dormitory. employees support the town that never sleeps by working day shifts and night shifts.

most workers come from rural areas. migrants make up almost 40% of beijing's population. this is the dormitory. six people share a 15 square meter room. rising property prices here make it difficult for employers to focus on improving living conditions for their employees. even so, the staff still choose to work in beijing. one young man is enthusia enthusiastically taking notes. the 19-year-old is from shunshi province. he's writing down the recipes he's learned in the restaurant's

kitchen. not all come to beijing with concrete dreams. these youngsters have a different perspective on life than their parents. in the past migrants would send money back to their families. now youngsters chase their

dreams longing to enjoy urban life. it's 9:00 a.m. on guijie street. the mornings here are very tranquil. street vendors who worked throughout the night can now rest. it's 3:00 p.m. this restaurant is holding job interviews.

the monthly wage is $320 u.s. including room and board. much better than the working conditions in rural areas. however, many workers are unable to tolerate the long night shifts and they eventually quit.

>> gao, owner of the town's biggest restaurant, has his own philosophy. gao came to beijing from a rural area and worked his way up. his values are different from the free willing values of

youngsters today. the battle of the generations continues. it's 4:00 p.m. massive amounts of food are delivered to the back of gao's restaurant. since today's a festival day, gao has purchased more crayfish than usual. he's ordered two tons, twice the regular value. gao has mad a bet predicting the number of customers will double this day. the spicy taste of the crayfish dish appeals to the appetites of the diners as well as their desire to spend.

guijie street, beijing's largest gourmet district, has undergone drastic changes thanks to the energy of the people who toil around the clock. at just 700 meters in length, this street of restaurants mirrors the various issues facing modern china today. óxñx

>> previously on "everyday edisons," we met brian smith, whose idea for a slow-pull dog leash pleased our development team and dog owners. in this episode, we take on a familiar problem that no one likes: the cat litter box. two inventors think they have a better idea, but will cat owners and their kitties agree?