nwasianweekly.com
Sept. 23, 2006

Photo by Rebecca Ip

Lo-Yu (left) and Hsiao-Ling Sun own and manage eight restaurants in Washington and California, including China Harbor on Lake Union.

Restaurateurs find home, success in Seattle
Entrepreneur of the Year Awards Dinner

By James Tabafunda
For the Northwest Asian Weekly

The grand opening of Lo-Yu Sun’s first restaurant on the first day of November 1978 came with high expectations. After all, he had saved his earnings from several jobs and 15-hour workdays, got a $10,000 loan from his bank and targeted hungry University of Washington students.

Everyone had big expectations — everyone, that is, except those students.
“There were only five customers,” Sun said about that first day. “For a while, business was not good.”

Disappointed but not deterred, he knew changes had to be made. He began offering more choices, including Szechuan-, Mandarin- and Hunan-style food as well as a buy-one-get-one-free policy. At that point, he was already used to making big changes.

About seven years prior, Sun made the biggest change of his life. He ended four years as a lecturer in mass communications at the Chinese Culture University in Taiwan. He applied and was admitted to UCLA to further his education in film. His wife, Hsiao-Ling, worked in the airline industry in Taiwan.

The next big turning point came soon afterwards: When Sun arrived in Seattle on his way to Los Angeles, he discovered an attractive city and decided to stay. “I gave up studying at UCLA,” he said, “and enrolled at a community college to study English.” He also decided to start his own business, a Chinese restaurant.

Since then, he and Hsiao-Ling have founded China Sun Inc., which oversees the eight Washington and California restaurants they own and manage. They also run two retail businesses in California and a travel agency and three real estate firms in Seattle. About 150 people work for them.

Their first restaurant, China First Restaurant in the University District, now serves 300 to 400 lunches each day. In 1994, Lo-Yu Sun bought China Harbor restaurant on Lake Union for $5 million. Last year, the National Restaurant Association named China Harbor one of the Top 100 Restaurants in the USA.

Sun said his biggest crisis occurred in 1994 when China Harbor’s kitchen suffered major smoke damage. “I have invested such a great deal of time and care in this business, so I was deeply hurt to see my property damaged in this way,” said Sun. “The experience reinforced my understanding of the unpredictability of problems that can occur in the restaurant industry, and I have grown personally as an entrepreneur through the challenge.”

The renovations cost him several thousand dollars, but Sun now takes immense pride in the restaurant’s second-floor ballroom. “China Harbor offers Asian wedding couples large and spacious facilities in which to hold their wedding receptions, and facilities of this kind are very hard to find in the Greater Seattle area,” he said. “(It has) views of Lake Union that are unmatched by any other restaurant.”

In 1995, Sun made a successful bid to run a fast-food Asian restaurant called China First Express at Sea-Tac International Airport. He also opened Manchu Wok to serve the same cuisine to travelers in a rush at the Sacramento International Airport.

He would like to open more Chinese restaurants in major airports throughout California.

Sun’s advice to those thinking of entering the restaurant business: If you want to succeed, be prepared to work hard and put in long hours — more than 40 a week — into the business.

His business aptitude has gained him national attention. Last December, President Bush reappointed him to the U.S. Small Business Administration’s National Advisory Council. As an SBA counselor, Sun offers advice to small business owners, particularly Asian Americans.

For more information, visit www.chinaharbor-chinafirst.com.

James Tabafunda can be reached at info@nwasianweekly.com.

Send correspondence to:
Northwest Asian Weekly • P.O. Box 3468 • Seattle • WA  98114
Tel: 206.223.5559 •  Fax: 206.223.0626 • Email: info@nwasianweekly.com
Please bookmark this site: www.nwasianweekly.com.