Things were looking up for Chen Xianzhong, proprietor of Baghdad’s first authentic Chinese restaurant in the new Iraq, until a suicide car bomber blew up outside the place less than two weeks ago. The deafening blast shattered the windows and spewed body parts into the dining room. A foot landed on the pavement outside and a tire landed in the restaurant’s second floor.
“There were small pieces of flesh all over, even on the roof,” Mr. Chen said. Now, he does takeout only for the few loyal customers that continue to call.
Chinese restaurateurs turn up in the unlikeliest places, but Mr. Chen, 53, is a remarkable study in the tenacity that plants Golden Palaces and Hunan Gardens in cities and towns around the globe.
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