Lu Xun’s Favorite Restaurant

Lu Xun’s close bond with Zhiweiguan Restaurant in Hangzhou probably had something to do with his hometown Shaoxing, for the restaurant was founded in Hangzhou in 1913 by Sun Yizai and Ah Yi, men from Shaoxing.

Although the restaurant features typical Hangzhou dishes such as West Lake Vinegar Fish, Dragon Well Shelled Shrimps, Beggar’s Chicken, and Water Shield Soup, its menu also includes a lot of Shaoxing styled dishes pickled with wine and contained in small pottery pots. Today, these wine-pickled dishes are still signature dishes of the restaurant. They are even now mass produced in vacuum packs and sold in supermarkets across the country.

Some other dishes from Shaoxing are also on the menu of the restaurant. These dishes of Hangzhou and Shaoxing origins are popular with local residents, many of whom have ancestral roots in Shaoxing.

During Lu Xun’s brief career as a teacher in Hangzhou, Zhiweiguan was his favorite restaurant to entertain his friends and visitors. When he finally settled down in Shanghai in the 1930s, he occasionally came to visit Hangzhou with friends. Generally Lu Xun loathed the city’s abandonment to luxuries and material joys, but the writer appreciated the gastronomical delights offered at Zhiweiguan.

Zhiweiguan opened a branch in Fuzhou Road, Shanghai in the 1930s. Shortly after learning about the arrival of Zhiweiguan in the metropolitan city, Lu Xun went with his family to try out the Shanghai version of his hometown dishes and Hangzhou dishes. His passion was rekindled and the restaurant became his favorite again. According to his diary, Lu Xun came to the restaurant eight times between 1932 and 1934.

On October 23, 1933, Lu Xun entertained some Japanese friends at Zhiweiguan in Shanghai. He ordered Beggar’s Chicken and Water Shield Soup, among other Hangzhou-styled dishes. He gave a detailed account of how the chicken was prepared. One of the Japanese friends, a president of a hospital, later talked to his Japanese friends about the banquet he had enjoyed at Zhiweiguan. He described Beggar’s Chicken and West Lake Vinegar Fish. The vivid description created a lasting impression in the island country. Half a century later, in the 1980s, Japanese gourmets flocked to China to taste legendary cuisines. Two delegates of Japanese gourmands visited Shanghai and ordered Hangzhou dishes Lu Xun once recommended.

Lu Xun held “thank-you” dinners respectively on April 20 and 23, 1933, shortly after he moved to a new home in Shanghai. Among the friends he invited were Mao Dun, Yu Dafu and Yao Ke. Lu Xun wrote invitations himself. Today, the invitation handwritten by Lu Xun and sent to Yao Ke is a souvenir kept in tact. The invitation card was originally designed and printed by Zhiweiguan.