MORE than 100 people attended the long-awaited reopening of The Imperial China in Lyndhurst earlier this week.

The popular Chinese restaurant in the High Street has been closed for around a year until the official relaunch on Tuesday.

New general manager, who likes to be known by his first name Wing, says locals had been eagerly awaiting for it to be back in business.

“We have people who are travelling from as far as Southampton, Bournemouth, Lymington and New Milton to visit us.

“The restaurant is warm, pink and cosy and our new menu is simple yet authentic. We specialise in fine Chinese and Szechuan cuisine. Everything is cooked fresh every day on the premises.

“Our most popular dishes include crispy chilli beef – which is also my favourite – salt and pepper king prawns and aromatic crispy duck with pancakes.”

Wing added that he had brought his best chef from a restaurant he had been running in Bristol for the past five years.

“He is a very talented chef with around 27 years of experience at top restaurants in both the UK and Hong Kong.”

Wing who has also worked in some of the country’s finest Oriental eateries, including Chelsea in London added: “I am delighted to have relocated to the New Forest. It is beautiful and has many excellent restaurants and the people are very friendly too.

“We are already planning to host a themed event every month so we will be putting The Imperial China firmly on the map!”