And on the seventh day, God ended his work which he had made; and he rested on the seventh day from all his work which he had made. And God blessed the seventh day, and sanctified it: because that in it he had rested from all his burgers which God created and made. Thus goes Genesis 2:3 and the christening of the humble hamburger as we know it.

Since the creation of the universe and everything we know, things have changed slightly and we're now blessed with an unholy amount of options, as is evident every year courtesy of our Burger Cup. Now with only two weeks left, we're on the verge of slicing the 16 hopefuls remaining down to a slim eight contenders.

Scan with WeChat to push your favorite buns
into the Elite Eight!

Despite the intransigent nature of the Bible's Creation verses, there seems to be some uncertainty as to who actually invented the globally revered combination of meat and patties. In order to clear things up, we asked you, our all-knowing (slightly confused?) voters, to dispel any semblance of rumor, untruth, and wavering servitude to the burger's originator.

Unfortunately, there appears to be some contention in even that seemingly simple task, with 48 percent of respondents choosing Germany as the country of origin versus 42 percent who opted for America. Less convincing runners-up included China (5 percent), the Tatars (2 percent), and "everyone else": the English, French, Colombians, Mongols, and Aliens from Outer Space at 3 percent.

As for isolated individuals who could be credited with the burger's design, answers included such luminaries as Barack Obama, Donald Trump, JRR Tolkien, Joseph Stalin, Kim Il-Sung, and Michael Jackson. However, the top individuals named were:

• Louis Lassen, the founder of Louis' Lunch burger restaurant (circa 1895) in New Haven, Connecticut
• Some Genius / Smart Guy
• God/Jesus (see above; you know where my allegiances lie)
• Fletcher "Old Dave" Davis, a resident of Athens, Texas, who claimed to have invented the hamburger in the 1880s
• The Hamburglar, and ...
• The Earl of Hamburg (think you meant the 4th Earl of Sandwich?)

Inconclusive to say the least. At this stage in the voting, it's safe to say that only one thing is clear: only you have the power to decide who can claim ownership of Beijing's Best Burger of 2018, which is why you should scan the QR code above and take the five minutes to vote. The world is in your hands, my friend!

Sweet 16 Matches

Bracket A
*Slow Boat (1) vs *Hulu (4)
*Home Plate BBQ (2) vs Cannon’s Burgers (3)

Bracket B
*Q Mex (1) vs *3 Little Pigs by Andy’s Craft Sausages (4)
Blue Frog (2) vs The Local (3)

Bracket C
*Great Leap (1) vs *Caravan (5)
Jing-A (2) vs *Common Burger @ ARCADE by Hatchery (3)

Bracket D
*Side Street (1) vs Arrow Factory (4)
*Fatburger (2) vs *The Great Outdoors (3)

For more on who is remaining in this round and upsets in the last, click here.

Images: tumblr.com, the Beijinger