NAIROBI—Tin Tin, a Chinese restaurant located in central Nairobi, has been serving local Kenyans for nearly four decades with its delicious dishes and unique cultural background .

"This is a restaurant definitely worth a try,” said Steven, a local resident in his 30s."It has provided Chinese food since my grandfatherJ s time. ”

According to Henry Tin, the restaurant owner, Tin Tin was established in 1978 at the heart of the Nairobi Central Business District ? upholding Chinese cuisines while adapting to Kenyan preferences .

For years, it has become a defining part of the city's landmark—Kenya International Conference Center—attracting lots of office workers nearby and even presidential customers .

"The former president of Kenya, Moi, was a very good customer for us. He came almost always in cash. Then former president Mwai Kibaki and now president Uhuru. They all like to enjoy our food," Tin said.

Danis, an office worker of an insurance company near the KICC says he is a frequenter of the restaurant.

“ It is the only Chinese restaurant in the highly competitive downtown area. Besides, its food has been adapted to our taste," Danis said, " My favorite dishes are fried shrimp and fried pork, which you can also find in a Kenyan restaurant. ”

“ High-quality food consistently served over the decades has helped maintain loyal customers, ” Enoch Kivunaga said, at Tin Tin.

"My experience depends on the customers・ If I cook good food, they always come back, whether they are presidents or ministers, ” he said.

Tin said he speaks Swahili well and perfectly pronounces local names, which shows the Chinese culture and its Kenyan counterpart are quickly combining・"I am a Kenyan Chinese. I love both great countries. ”

In many countries of the world, people can confidently tell you the meaning of their town or city, but most people who live in Manchester, Oxford or Birmingham would not be able to explain what the name of their city means. The name of every British town and city, however, has a long history.

Two thousand years ago, most people living in Britain were Celts. Even the word “Britain" is Celtic (凯尔特语).Then the Romans arrived and built camps which became cities called “castra". This is why there are so many place names in England which end in "-chester" or “-caster" Manchester, for example.

The Romans never reached Wales or Scotland, and many place names there are Celtic. For example,Welsh place names that begin with “Llan" come from the Celtic word for "church".

After the Romans left Britain, it was attacked by the Anglo-Saxons who were from the area of Europe that is now Germany and Holland. The names of their villages often ended in “-ham" or “-ton". Some got their names from the leader of the village.So Birmingham for example, means "Beormund's village”

The Anglo-Saxons were farmers and the landscape was very important to them, so we have villages called Upton (village on a hill)——a good place to build a village and Moreton (“village by a lake”)where floods could make life hard. Place names that end in “-ford" (a place where you could cross a river) also describe the location of Anglo-Saxon villages.

Finally, in 1066 England became Norman—the Normans gave us the place name "grange", which means farm.

And how about London? Experts cannot agree. The Romans called the city Londinium, but they were not the first inhabitants (居民). People once believed that the United Kingdom’s capital city got its name from the castle of a King called Lud   but this is very unlikely. Our best guess today is that the name comes from a Celtic word meaning a fast-flowing river. Like a number of British place names, its history is lost in time.