More than 100 restaurateurs, managers, and enthusiasts from 30 Beijing restaurants gathered at the Tian Yuan Ji Chicken Hot Pot Restaurant last Friday, to show their support for restaurants selling chicken dishes.

Sales of chicken dishes in Beijing, especially in specialized chicken restaurants, have been severely affected since the capital reported a case of avian flu on April 12.

Huang Geng, general manager of Huang Ji Huang Three Sauce Simmer Pot Restaurant, is one of several restaurants that initiated the drive to promote chicken restaurants and prove that eating chicken is safe.

“Avian flu is not fearsome, lack of knowledge is," he said.

Yang Suqing, founder of Tian Yuan Ji, said eating well-prepared chicken is thoroughly safe.

Yang said customer numbers at her restaurant dropped 50 percent since the avian flu outbreak.

Shi Bi, owner of Shi Jia Ge Yuan, a restaurant that specializes in pigeon dishes, says his dishes, all well cooked, are safe to eat.

Hua Lei, owner of Hua Jia Yi Yuan Restaurant, says restaurants should consider diversifying their menu.

Not surprisingly, the dish of the day was chicken cooked and served in a number of tasty ways.

Hua Jia Yi Yuan's dish was slow-roasted wrapped in lotus leaf and mud. Jin Bai Wan, a home-style restaurant, offers braised mushroom-stuffed chicken in soup.

The World Health Organization recently reiterated that chicken, once it is well-prepared, is safe for human consumption.