Can you eat more than 68 hotdogs in 10 minutes? If your appetite is strong enough to take on some of the biggest bellies in the business, you could get a chance to take a bite out of the Big Apple.

Nathan's Famous, a popular fast food chain set up in the United States in 1916, will hold a regional hotdog-eating contest at its Beijing restaurant on June 18. The top two or three will win an all-expenses-paid trip to New York to compete in the International Hotdog Eating Competition.

"We are looking for the Yao Ming of hotdog eating," said Kristen Lum, public relations director for the restaurant chain's Beijing branch. The final on July 4, which will be televised on ESPN, offers a first prize of $10,000 in cash.

As the company does not do large-scale promotions, most advertising has been done through social networking websites, said Lum.

More than 10 people have already signed up, although Nathan's Famous hopes to have at least 100 face off in Beijing. "We have Chris Lam, a contestant from Hong Kong who has a record of eating 44 German sausages in eight minutes," she added.

Applicants will be whittled down to 12 finalists, while the celebrity judging panel will include Joey Chestnut, the current world champion, who holds the record of eating 68 hotdogs in 10 minutes.

"The winners of the China regional will all compete with Joey in New York," said Lum. "We're confident China will have its own hotdog hero."

Applicants must be Chinese citizens, aged over 18 and hold a valid passport. They must also have previously traveled internationally. May 31 is the deadline for applications.

China Daily

(China Daily 05/26/2011)