Local Hero Profile: Great Wall Chinese Restaurant
“I buy local food because we need to support each other.” — Clara Li
Clara Li and her husband, Ken Cheung, opened Great Wall Chinese Restaurant twenty years ago in 1996. They pride themselves on serving authentic and delicious Chinese food with the freshest possible ingredients. Clara has been buying from Jiang Farm in Montague ever since she first opened for business. She enjoys buying produce that she doesn’t think her customers have tried before, and hopes her dishes will expand some culinary horizons. Besides the fresh flavor, Clara buys local food because she believes it is important to support fellow local businesses. She also knows that people like to know where their food comes from, herself included.
Support for local farms:
In addition to a long relationship with Jiang Farm in Montague, Clara frequents several farmers’ markets, looking for the freshest local vegetables and meat to serve at Great Wall. Often, she’ll buy something with the intent of eating it herself, and end up serving it to customers at the restaurant—she loves introducing people to new foods too much not to share!
What’s your favorite part of your job?
Clara loves talking with customers and getting to understand them better. Over the years, many customers have become her good friends!
A reason to come to Great Wall
Great Wall has two menus! Be sure to check out their Gourmet Menu, which feature fresh specials and traditional recipes that many customers have never tried before.
Did you know?
Extra special seasonal dishes don’t even go into the menu—they’re posted on the door!
Great Wall supports Jiang Farm
Farmers: The Jiang family
Story: The Jiang family has been farming in Montague for over 20 years. They run a 25 acre diverse vegetable farm, specializing in traditional Chinese produce. Besides selling to Great Wall every week when Clara Li comes to the Amherst Farmers’ Market, Jiang Farm sells over a thousand pounds of produce per week in Boston where there is a high demand for the varieties they grow. Mrs. Jiang stresses how small her farm is relative to its yield, and how large it is relative to the manpower provided solely by her husband and herself. She says her family is “tired and happy with the way things are,” since they have plenty of work and plenty of customers. They have been selling to Great Wall for many years.
