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I am Deb Ratuli. I come from India. I have been living in China for 19 years. I started off as a waiter in Indian restaurant in the city of Sanjan. Now I own more than dozen Chinese restaurants in many Chinese cities. These restaurants do not only offer people to enjoy Indian food, they also serve as a cultural center to know about Indian culture. I hope in the future I can open more restaurants and contribute to the cultural exchanges between India and China. In any Duke, Indian businessman Deb Ratuli launched his latest restaurant in China. The restaurant, situated in the eastern city of Hangzhou, is as large as 350 square meters. Its seating capacity amounts to 150. To date, Ratuli owns 15 restaurants across China, spanning from the city of Xi'an to Wuhan, Kunming and Hangzhou. Undoubtedly, Ratuli's booming business is part of the story of the growing Chinese economy. It has also resulted from his nearly two decades of hard and smart work in China. Ratuli first came to China in 2005, when he worked as a waiter at a restaurant in the southern metropolis of Shenzhen. At that time, I told myself to work hard. It would be wonderful if I can become manager of the restaurant. China is a land of opportunities. If you have ideas and ability, people will come to help you and you will succeed. Ratuli quickly adapted to the new environment. He is gifted in languages and has an outgoing personality. It only took him half a year to learn to speak fluent Chinese. His hard work made him stand out and he gained one promotion after another. One year later, he left Shenzhen for Beijing and then worked in the Chinese capital for seven years. He served in various managerial positions in different high-end restaurants and earned a handsome income. But this aspiring young man was not content and he wanted to have his own restaurant. In 2012, he quit his job and dived into the risky business world. He travelled to many cities and carried out a lot of research before finally choosing to locate his first restaurant in Xi'an in northwest China. Raturi says he loves the city so much for its rich historical and cultural heritages. As he notes, Xi'an had been the capital of many powerful and prosperous dynasties in ancient China and served as an important economic and cultural hub along the ancient Silk Road. One year later, he officially launched his first restaurant. In the following years, Raturi gradually expanded his business. But in the risky business world, difficulties and failures are inevitable. He recalls that he suffered a setback when he tried to launch a restaurant in the southwestern city of Chengdu in 2017. He invested 3.6 million yuan in the undertaking but it was closed only half a year after its launch. He says he still wants to cry when recalling the experience today. In hindsight, Raturi says he was not familiar with the local market and made a bad decision concerning the location of the restaurant. Its bad location meant there were few customers. As a result, he ran up a debt of more than 1 million yuan. He considered giving it all up. Luckily, amidst this difficult time, he received crucial encouragement and assistance from two of his Chinese friends who lent him money to help him restart his business. Now a successful businessman, Raturi is grateful that he has met lots of warm-hearted people in China who are willing to help him. At present, each of his chain restaurants receives about 100 customers per day on average. And every year, each one of them brings a revenue of about 4 million yuan or about US$550,000. Right now, there are more than 100 employees working at his restaurants. 40% of them are from India. Each of Raturi's restaurants provides more than 50 dishes with new ones added every half a year. Raturi says he has operated his chain restaurants not only as a place people can enjoy authentic Indian food, but also experience Indian culture. Through his restaurants and himself, Raturi says he would like to improve mutual understanding and cultural exchanges between Indian and Chinese people. He often posts videos on his social media accounts to share his experience in China. In 1976, Raturi was born in a small village in the state of Uttarakhand, in the northern part of India. Coming from a humble background, he began striking out in the world after finishing his secondary education. His fascination with Chinese culture, especially Chinese kung fu, finally led him to come to China in 2005 when he was 29 years old. He says he now sees his dreams of leading a happy and prosperous life coming true in China. And he encourages people to come to China to try their luck. He shares an experience of applying for a visa for one of his chefs coming from India. Raturi adds that it's very efficient for him to obtain operating licenses for his restaurants from local Chinese authorities. Take his Hangzhou restaurant for example. He says it took no more than three days. As an experienced businessman in China, he offers some advice for people who aspire to do business in the country. Now, Raturi has lived in the city of Xi'an for more than a decade. He jokes that he has become a native of Xi'an. He got married in 2011 and has two sons who were both born and live in China. Treating the country as his base and his second home, the Indian businessman is ready to launch himself into a bigger world as he eyes expanding his business both in China and to the United States and Europe.