NBC News reports that Lu Mingkui, runner-up in Saturday's Nathan's qualifier in Beijing with a total of 13 hot dogs, will compete in the Nathan's finals on July 4. The article does not state if any Chinese women will compete in the finals. update CityWeekend.com.cn has a gallery listing Ding Qian (4 hot dogs) as the sole female competitor. We will see if she competes in the women's division on July 4.

June 20, 2011 at 11:05 am by ojrifkin · More posts about:2011 Nathan's Hot Dog Contest, China | Permalink * Comments (9)

9 Comments »

  1. Anonymous said

    June 20, 2011 @ 1:15 pm

    They also announced that hed be comepting for $20,000…..

  2. Question said

    June 20, 2011 @ 1:35 pm

    Are the guys that are going to the finals the same guys Sonya competed against in that bun eating contest in Hong Kong several years ago?

  3. Anonymous said

    June 20, 2011 @ 1:59 pm

    I just don’t see why MLE would waste the time and money to bring a runner-up with only 13 HDBs to Coney from China when many worthy American pros are falling short over here but would do anything to be at the final table.

  4. Question said

    June 20, 2011 @ 2:13 pm

    Anony 1:59: This appears to be the client, Nathan’s, decision. They’ve got stores there and probably got some good local advertisement. Actually, it’s pretty smart from that standpoint, particularly if the PRC let it broadcast in China.

  5. ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)

    June 20, 2011 @ 2:14 pm

    Johnny Wu was the runner up in Sonya Thomas’ 2006 contest in Hong Kong. He was also runner-up to Kobayashi in a 2005 contest.

    http://eatfeats.com/query.php?_table=eaters&id=742

    http://hk.asia-city.com/restaurants/article/competitive-eater-johnny-wu

  6. Anonymous said

    June 20, 2011 @ 2:19 pm

    You don’t see why because like 99% of the people on this site you don’t understand the competitive eating business.

    Question: What is this contest?
    Answer: It’s an advertisement.
    Question: What’s the biggest emerging market in the world?
    Answer: China.
    Question: And what are they doing by staging a contest in China and continuing the story by bring Chinese eaters to America?
    Answer: They’re establishing/raising brand awareness.

    Is it beginning to make sense now.

  7. ojrifkin said (Registered July 27, 2005)

    June 20, 2011 @ 2:23 pm

    The finalists are competing for a share of $20K, the largest of which is $10K.

  8. Anonymous said

    June 20, 2011 @ 3:17 pm

    I understand why Nathan’s would hold an event over there; however, what I don’t understand is why they felt the need to allow the runner-up (once again, with only 13 hdbs) to go to the finals when our American pros are putting up numbers double that and still not getting their shot at Coney.

  9. General Tso said

    June 20, 2011 @ 8:40 pm

    Johnny Wu smart eater. He run for my bird like chicken who just lost head.

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