China is a nation famous for cuisines, and all kinds of fine food from various regions and ethnic groups of the country actually gather at its capital Beijing, among which is the flavored food of Tibetan ethnic group that becomes known better and better.

Makye Ame is one of the most famous Tibetan restaurants, which can be considered as a representative of Tibetan food in a sense. By a walk into the door, visitors seem to have left the modern metropolis and could enjoy leisure time in Tibet with both the exotic cuisine and culture.

The restaurant is full of Tibetan ambiance. There are Tibetan styled furniture and adornments in the hall with Thangka paintings hung on the wall and unique lamps throwing warm lights. Handsome waiters and pretty waitresses wearing Tibetan costumes would speak Tibetans with each other and Mandarin and some foreign languages with the guests. The most fabulous should be the folk singing and dancing performances by Tibetan artists, which always attract many customers apart from the Tibetan food.

Photo shows the entrance of Makye Ame Tibetan Restaurant in Beijing, which is well combined with the night of central Beijing. [Photo/ China Tibet Online]

Founded by Tsethang Wangchen in 1997, Makye Ame now has four branches in China: two in Beijing, one is on the famous Barkor Street of Lhasa, capital of Tibet Autonomous Region, and one in Kunming, capital of southwest China's Yunnan Province. It has made to be a leading chain Tibetan food enterprise to open restaurants in the inland market.

The prestige of Makye Ame can be attributed to not only its tasty food but also the underlying culture elements, including a love song of the same name and a related romantic story.

One night about hundreds of years ago, a man was having food at a Tibetan restaurant on the southeastern corner of Barkor Street, while it so happened that a pure and pretty girl came in, too, whose beautiful look and quiet temperament left a deep impression on the man.

From then on, he often came to the restaurant, looking forward to meeting the girl again. But, the pity is that the girl never reappeared. Then the man wrote a poem to reminisce the girl and to express his affection.

The poem was named Makye Ame, meaning "a pure young girl" in Tibetan language. And the man's name is Tsangyang Gyatso, who is better known as the 6th Dalai Lama and a famous Tibetan poet. 

Photo shows the Tibetan styled metal highland barley wine goblet, which is decorated with four of the eight auspicious symbols of Tibetan Buddhism: Precious Parasol, Goldfishes, Treasure Vase, Lotus, Dharma Wheel, Knot of Eternity, Victory Banner and White Conch. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

The success of Makye Ame is the epitome of today's Tibetan catering industry, which earns over 3.72 billions yuan (about 600 millions US dollars) in 2012, with year-on-year growth of 21.93 percent, and Tibetan featured restaurants are becoming more and more highly praised by tourists, according to statistics released by catering and hotel association of Tibet Autonomous Region. 

Photo shows the Tibetan styled metal kettle full of yak buttered tea, the major drink of Tibetans. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

Photo shows that various Tibetan styled house wares used in Tibetan families are decorated in Makye Ame Tibetan Restaurant in Beijing. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

Photo shows that a Tibetan folk artist play unique Tibetan instrument "zhamunian" in Makye Ame Tibetan Restaurant in Beijing. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

Photo shows that a Tibetan folk artist performs Shinze dance which originates from eastern Tibet's Chamdo Prefecture as well as Tibetan inhabited areas in southwest China's Sichuan and Yunnan provinces. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

Photo shows Tibetan flavored yoghurt salads made of yoghurt, various fruits and unique silverweed cinquefoil root in Tibet. [Photo/China Tibet Online]

Photo shows that Tibetan styled house wares used in Tibetan families are decorated in Makye Ame Tibetan Restaurant in Beijing, between which the tube on the left is used to make yak buttered tea and the right one is a tea pot. [Photo/China Tibet Online] 

Photo shows that Tibetan folk artists perform Tibetan songs in Makye Ame Tibetan Restaurant in Beijing. [Photo/China Tibet Online]