Anybody with rudimentary knowledge of Chinese culture will recognise Hangzhou as a byword for refined gastronomy.
The city, which has stood on the bucolic banks of the West Lake for over 2,000 years, is the southern terminus of China’s Grand Canal and served as the country’s capital during the Southern Song dynasty.
Centuries before the first public restaurants opened in France, Hangzhou had taverns, nightclubs, speciality restaurants – vegetarian for Buddhists, spicy food for merchants from Sichuan province and China’s more western areas – delivery services, and all kinds of entertainment and services around its lake and canals.
Today, to be familiar with modern China’s fine-dining scene is to know the name Fu Yueliang. The Hangzhou native trained at Zhiweiguan, a century-old Hangzhou institution that once prepared banquets for foreign dignitaries, and is a third-generation disciple of chef Dong Shunxiang, a master of the cuisine of Zhejiang, the province in which Hangzhou is located.
