Cradle of Chefs -- Changyuan County of Xinxiang City

Changyuan cuisine is world-renowned for its long history, colorful dishes and excellent taste. It is rooted in the Spring and Autumn Period, developed in Tang Dynasty and Song Dynasty, flourished in Ming Dynasty and Qing Dynasty, and became more and more splendid in modern times. As early as more than 1100 years ago, during the Northern Song Dynasty, Changyuan cuisine has formed five different systems: royal cuisine, official cuisine, market cuisine, temple cuisine and folk cuisine, while the main cooking crafts included deep-frying, quick-frying, frying, stir-frying, steaming, boiling, baking, roasting, etc. During the long history of cooking, Changyuan cuisine boasts about the numerous chefs and their outstanding skills. Changyuan has been the cradle of the largest number of famous chefs in China. According to statistics, currently, professional cooks in Changyuan are as many as 23,000, among whom, over 1,000 have gone abroad in 46 countries and regions. There are 4 national-class chefs and 16 provincial-class chefs. In February 2003, Zhang Shiyao, Chairman of the China Cuisine Association wrote a few words of commemoration for Chuangyuan: “Changyuan, cradle of chefs, shows the outstanding characters of Chinese cuisine.” In the same year, the China Cuisine Association issued an official document to give Changyuan the name of “the Cradle of Chefs in China” and held the awarding ceremony in the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Leaders of China, such as Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Liu Shaoqi, Zhu De, Deng Xiaoping, Dong Biwu, Peng Dehuai, Xu Shiyou, Luo Ruiqing, etc, all choose chefs from Changyuan as their special chefs or temporary cooks. The most outstanding representative of chefs from Changyuan is Hou Ruixuan, former Head Chef of Diaoyutai State Guesthouse and the modern cooking master. Mr. Hou has served Chinese national leaders of three generations, for more than 60 years, including Mao Zedong, Zhou Enlai, Deng Xiaoping, and Jiang Zemin. He has designed and cooked for numerous state banquets, treating hundreds of heads of foreign states: Norodom Sihanouk, Queen Elizabeth II, Bill Clinton, Boris Yeltsin, Emperor Akihito, Castro and so on. Mr. Hou’s legendary cooking experience and wonderful achievement has been written into the Biography of World Celebrities. A saying put it this way, “Chefs from Changyuan could be found all over the world, and many of them are famous cooks. Their cuisine boasts about wonderful color, flavor, taste and shape, winning the praises of all the people”. It outlines a true picture of Changyuan, the “Cradle of Chefs in China”.