中国·福州——热爱城市从热爱美食开始

Editor’s Note

This year marks the 160th anniversary of Juchunyuan, a time-honored Chinese brand. Founded in the fourth year of the Tongzhi era during the Qing Dynasty (1865), this “Cradle of Fujian Cuisine” has undergone significant transformation over the years. Today, it has grown into a modern industrial group with a diverse range of operations, including restaurants, hotels, food industry, wellness and hot spring services, digital retail, museums, and more. Juchunyuan has left a lasting imprint on Fuzhou’s cultural legacy, creating a living testament to intangible cultural heritage.

The Fuzhou Evening News has launched the column My Story with Juchunyuan, offering you a chance to witness the transformation of this century-old time-honored brand from the experience of those who have worked there.

　　Yang Weihua was preparing Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang (Photo courtesy of Juchunyuan Group)

As noon drew near, a tempting aroma filled the kitchen of Juchunyuan Hotel. When the reporter met Yang Weihua, the hotel’s deputy general manager, he was carefully arranging more than a dozen ingredients, including dried scallops and fish maw, into a clay pot to prepare Fotiaoqiang. Despite his promotion to a management role, Yang Weihua still made a point of personally cooking the dish whenever he had the chance.

As an important carrier of Fujian cuisine’s heritage, Juchunyuan has always viewed “preserving craftsmanship” as its core principle. Yang Weihua, the eighth-generation representative inheritor of the national intangible cultural heritage project “Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang Cooking Technique,” still remembers the words of his mentor Yao Xinrui: “A slight variation in heat can drastically change the flavor.” This deep respect for traditional craftsmanship is evident in the careful and meticulous preparation of each pot of Fotiaoqiang. It is also central to Juchunyuan Group’s master-apprentice system, where every newcomer must rotate through eight key positions, including steaming and cutting, to develop solid skills through hands-on training.

“It’s the platform that made me who I am today. Without Juchunyuan, I wouldn’t be where I am,” Yang Weihua said with deep emotion. This place is not just his workplace, but the cradle of his personal growth.

Yang Weihua joined Juchunyuan in the 1980s. Juchunyuan provided a nurturing environment for young chefs, encouraging them to actively participate in various high-level culinary competitions to improve themselves. It also offered numerous opportunities for international exchanges, allowing them to engage in face-to-face skill exchanges with top chefs from both China and abroad. Through this process, Yang Weihua continuously challenged himself, evolving from a novice chef into a seasoned culinary master.

In the spring of 2005, Yang Weihua experienced a turning point in his career. At that time, Juchunyuan’s Fotiaoqiang was featured as the main dish at the opening dinner of the 97th China Import and Export Fair, where it was served to over 500 guests, including provincial officials and representatives from 250 multinational companies worldwide.

Faced with over 500 orders for Fotiaoqiang, Yang Weihua remained true to tradition while embracing innovation, ensuring that all ingredients and seasonings were meticulously measured with a scale. This “ingredient quantification revolution” led to the establishment of a standardized production system for Juchunyuan’s Fotiaoqiang products.

In 2008, the “Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang Cooking Technique” was listed among the second batch of national intangible cultural heritage. In the same year, Yang Weihua was named the representative inheritor of the “Juchunyuan Fotiaoqiang Cooking Technique.”

Under the continuous development and support of Juchunyuan Group, Yang Weihua was awarded the title of “National Technical Expert” in 2016. In 2018, his studio was honored as a national-level “Yang Weihua Skill Master Studio.” In 2023, he received a special government allowance from the State Council. For Yang Weihua, Juchunyuan is not only the starting point of his successful career but also the powerful driving force that keeps him moving forward.

“The development of a time-honored brand resembles the art of cooking Fotiaoqiang. It requires staying true to the original intention, simmering slowly over low heat, while also keeping up with the trends of the times, embracing the intense heat,” said Yang Weihua.

This may be the essence of Juchunyuan’s continued vitality across three centuries -- preserving its cultural heritage to withstand the test of time while pushing boundaries through innovation. (Fuzhou Evening News Reporter: Quan Yiyue)