While many international brands retreat, McDonald’s is supersizing its China business

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Even as numerous international consumer brands shrink their footprints in China, McDonald’s is bucking the trend thanks to consumers like Yue Ma.

Over the May Day holidays, Yue showed up at the U.S. fast food giant’s newly opened McDonaldland store in Beijing’s Chaoyang Park — one of the few stores countrywide that reintroduced the chain’s classic strawberry and vanilla milkshakes on May 1.

The businessman, who was born in the 1980s, told CNBC he came not only for the shake, but also the childhood memories.

“McDonald’s left a great first impression for those eating Western fast food for the first time,” he said. “Nowadays we have so many options in fast food, Western or Chinese, but for me, 70% of the time, I go to McDonald’s.”