For those of us accustomed to dining out in a typically sized restaurant, seating for 250 or 500 people may make a restaurant seem massive.

So, how about these statistics for the West Lake Chinese Restaurant in Changsha, China? The restaurant was started in 2000 by Qin Lingzhi, who borrowed $10,000 to do so:

• Nearly 950,000 square feet

• Seating for 5,000 

• A staff of more than 1,000, including 300 chefs

Click on the image to access an eye-opening Businessweek slideshow.