no expensive rents for li tiejun. 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 lo