McDonald's has worked very hard for very long to create a image of happiness and quality. The shiny Golden Arches. The Happy Meals. The catchy tunes and upbeat advertising. But it seems no matter how hard they try, when you actually walk into one in America, you're often confronted with something else completely. As in cheap plastic seats, dim fluorescent lighting and people sitting alone reading the newspaper and looking depressed. It's clear that in most Americans' minds that, "I'm Lovin' It," is nothing more than marketing fluff because, for some reason, eating at McDonald's in America can make you feel very fat, very lazy and very poor.

The "perfect" McDonald's, the one that you see in their commercials, does exist though. It's in China. Over here, walking into the fast feeder is a completely different experience. It's bright, extemely busy and the customers seems genuinely happy to be there. Teenagers hang out laughing and gossiping-- just like in the ads. Parents bring their kids there as a treat. And the rules for cleanliness that American McDonald's could only dream of are strictly enforced here. The bathrooms are clean. There are employees running from table to table wiping them down. The cashier smiles (just like they've been trained) when you order. It's easy to argue that, in many ways, the Chinese McDonald's is more "McDonald's" than the American McDonald's will ever be.

I will be the first to say that I love McDonald's. Living in China, I eat it just to remind me of home. I spend a lot of time watching my fellow eaters and my theory is that the state of a McDonald's says a lot about the culture of its society. And I'm not alone. In economics, there's something called the Big Mac Index-- arguably, the world's most accurate Personal Purchasing Power indicator (Wiki it). With that said, I want to explore some of the reasons for the disparity in the "realities" of McDonald's between China and the US- the practical truths, not the "theory of brand power" or concepts of Western hope and symbolism you read in marketing books.

1. There are no rest stops in China. America is a country that depends on cars, roads and highways. McDonald's knew that a long time ago and starting putting their restaurants near roads. In the process, they developed the reputation as a tacky, albeit reliable, meal on a long road-trip. Something to eat when you don't know what to eat. An in-between meal, inherently B-grade. Not something you necessarily look forward to, something you eat when you're hurriedly on the way to something else. There are no rest stops in China and hence no rest-stop McDonald's stigmas. The idea of commuting or road trips is very different in China. In fact, eating while on the road is not normal here, while it accounts for nearly a third of eating occasions in America.

2. All the McDonald's in China are new. It's extremely expensive to renovate a restaurant and in America, many McDonald's are decades old. Because every restaurant is a franchise and technically not "owned" by McDonald's, it is difficult to force a renovation. So what you get is an out-dated, uninviting and cheap looking spot. Not so in China. Those shiny new design ideas that are too expensive to realize in America are realized in every Chinese McDonald's. Slick lighting. High resolution wall-prints. New uniforms. It's actually nice.

3. There's no stigma associated with child obesity.  In America, giving your kid a Big Mac is "irresponsible." Here it's being a good, loving parent. I think most Chinese parents see their kids being on the chubby side as good health, not disease. There's less health stigma here.

4. Relativity. The average monthly income of an urbanite in China is $257 US. Think about that. In America, fast food is the bottom of the restaurant food chain. It's what you eat when you're starving but only have a dollar (read: Dollar Menu). Here, it's somewhere in the middle-- a treat, even. And if you're a migrant construction worker (there are over two million in Shanghai alone), you can bet McDonald's is a modern luxury. One Big Mac meal (~$20 RMB) or one street noodles (~10 RMB) or one bag of ramen (~3 RMB), what would you do?

With that said, definitely stop by a McDonald's next time you're in China. Have some fries, have a seat and see for yourself.

Ed Tsue is a Chinese American New Yorker (though not necessarily in that order) working for a British advertising company in China developing brand strategies.