They've survived for 40 years: What it's like running the only remaining Chinese takeaway in a country town

Yee Guanshun and his wife, Huang Limei, have been running a Chinese restaurant in the small town of Branxton in NSW for decades. The restaurant is much more than a business for their family, it's also their home.

Key Points

• Yee 'Terry' Guanshun and his wife, Huang 'Lee Bee Yee' Limei, have been running Branxton's only remaining Chinese takeaway restaurant for the past 40 years.
• Their three children grew up in a home attached to the shop.
• A new exhibition by their daughter Yee 'Steffie' Shuting reflects on the experience.

Many Australian towns have at least one Chinese restaurant and Branxton, 171km north of Sydney in the NSW Hunter Region, is no exception.

Serving customers for over 40 years, Yee's Restaurant is now the only Chinese takeaway in the town. Another Chinese restaurant announced its closure in September last year.

The eatery is run by Yee 'Terry' Guanshun, and his wife, Huang 'Lee Bee Yee' Limei.

The restaurant has not only been the lifeblood of the family of five, but also their home.

Their three children — Ebony, Steffie, and Tyson — all grew up there.

Malaysian Chinese man Yee Guanshun, 70, and his wife Huang Limei, 56, run a family Chinese restaurant in the small town of Branxton in NSW. Source: SBS / Ranky Law

The restaurant had been her "playground" as a child, Steffie told SBS Chinese.

"My siblings and I played a lot in the restaurants, we were rollerblading on the tiles or making playdough from the spring roll batter," she said.

From a very young age, the siblings helped their parents with restaurant tasks such as answering the phone, wrapping spring rolls, and cutting vegetables, she said.

Home videos show them trying to sweep the floor with a broom that was taller than themselves.

Only a plastic sliding door separated their house from the restaurant making for a "eventful" childhood, Steffie said.

"There were always customers coming in to greet my parents," she said.

As children, Ebony (right), Steffie (centre), and Tyson (left), rollerbladed at their parents' Chinese restaurant. Source: Supplied

While Steffie has endless fond memories of growing up in this "thrilling" environment, a regional family-run Chinese restaurant can be a place of "mixed emotions for both the parents and children", she said.

"Sometimes it can be quite monocultural, and it can feel a bit alienating," she said.

Branxton has a population of 2,255 with just 8.2 per cent of residents born overseas, according to Australian Bureau of Statistics data.

As one of the few Chinese faces in town, Steffie said she had experienced an "identity crisis" growing up.

"Growing up in Australia as an Asian person or as someone who doesn't fit the dominant cultural narrative. You always will have some sort of questions about your identity."

"To be honest, I probably still have that now. And I think it's an ongoing thing. It just keeps evolving."

Burger joint transformed into Chinese restaurant

Yee Guanshun migrated to Australia in 1977 aged 23.

He worked at a car wash in Sydney before landing a part-time job in a restaurant in Newcastle through a friend.

After working there for 10 years, Yee said he learned that a burger shop in nearby Branxton was for sale so he took out a loan and bought the store, transforming it into a Chinese takeaway outlet.

Apart from a small renovation when it first opened, the layout of Yee's has remained largely unchanged over the past few decades.

Since arriving in Australia in 1977, Yee Guanshun has been working in Chinese restaurants including his own for over 40 years. Source: Supplied

He told SBS Chinese that since it opened, the business has always been very good thanks to a strong local customer base.

"Some (customers) have eaten (here) for generations," he said.

The restaurant's tri-fold menu is densely packed with the names of nearly 100 dishes including favourites such as fried rice, spring rolls, honey chicken and Mongolian beef.

"This restaurant is my only income (source), and will always be in my heart," Yee said.

'Very busy mother'

Yee, 70, and Huang, 56, met and married in Australia, with their three children being raised in the house behind their restaurant.

Huang said she had been a "very busy mother" trying to balance working in the restaurant with raising children.

In fact on some days, she carried the children on her back while she worked, she said.

"(I would work every day for) 12 hours, sometimes 15 hours, (not resting) until midnight," she said.

When her children were young, Huang Limei often carried them on her back while she worked in the family's restaurant. Source: Supplied

"It's really hard to go to work and take care of children when kids are sick, or when I'm sick myself," she said.

"It's good to go through all the suffering.

"It's good for (a couple) to start a small business ... (and) work side-by-side and share the same hardships ... I think this is a good journey, and I have a great sense of accomplishment."

A special exhibition

Now an animation director based in Melbourne, Steffie recently held an exhibition called 'Chinese Restaurant Playground' in Footscray, showcasing old photos and videos of her family.

Yee 'Steffie' Shuting. Source: SBS / Nicole Gong

Chinese restaurants are very much a part of Australia's country towns, she said, and "most country towns will have at least one Chinese restaurant".

"We are all familiar with the classic tri-fold paper menu and iconic dishes like honey chicken, but we rarely hear the complex backstories of the restaurant owners and their rich life experiences outside of the commercial kitchen," she said.

"I'd like viewers is to walk away feeling like they had an have an insight into life behind the Chinese restaurant and hopefully this exhibition humanises the owners behind the Chinese restaurant as well, which we don't often hear stories about."