A Bowl of Delicacy Carrying Millennia of Culture: Chenzhou Zhuangyuan Revitalizes Zhoukou’s Top-Scholar Heritage via Catering and Cultural Creativity

When a city’s historical heritage meets modern commerce, remarkable chemistry emerges. In Zhoukou, Henan Province, once known as Chenzhou and home to three imperial examination top scholars throughout history, the brand Chenzhou Zhuangyuan presents a distinctive solution. More than just a fast-food restaurant, it serves as an integrated space inheriting top-scholar culture and local traditions. It artfully blends the everyday comfort of noodles and rice meals with the prevailing trends of national reading, cultural creativity and cultural tourism.

Rooted in Local Heritage: Top-Scholar Culture Defines the Brand

Boasting a time-honored reputation as a cradle of ancient civilizations, Zhouzhou (ancient Chenzhou) nurtured three top scholars in China’s imperial examination era, two of whom were from present-day Shangshui County. A profound tradition of valuing education and scholarship has taken deep root here for thousands of years.

Li Zhilei, founder of Chenzhou Zhuangyuan, is a native of Shangshui. He grew up listening to legends of local top scholars, whose stories of diligent study and academic success left an indelible impression on him. Having traveled extensively across the country, he came to realize that local culture should never be confined to ancient records or oral tales. Instead, it ought to step into modern life in a vivid and tangible way.

Driven by this vision, he returned to his hometown to launch a business, striving to carry forward the age-old top-scholar culture within a dining space. The brand Chenzhou Zhuangyuan was officially registered in 2024. Named after the ancient title of Zhoukou and themed on the spirit of top scholars, it embarked on an innovative journey to commercialize local cultural IP.

Catering as Carrier, Culture as Soul: A Diversified Cultural Consumption Experience

Stepping into a Chenzhou Zhuangyuan outlet, visitors will instantly find it different from ordinary fast-food restaurants. Featuring log-style decor, calligraphy and paintings themed on top scholars, as well as a reading corner displaying local chronicles and books about imperial examinations, the venue is filled with a harmonious blend of culinary aroma and scholarly ambiance.

The brand mainly serves noodles and rice set meals, classic fast food that caters to the dining needs of office workers and local residents. Beyond dining, each store functions as a cultural and creative hub. It offers a rich selection of products, including stationery, notebooks and canvas bags with top-scholar motifs, blessing plaques and bookmarks featuring imperial examination elements. A public reading area stocked with hundreds of books also invites customers to enjoy reading over meals.

"We hope every guest can savor delicious food and truly understand the profound culture behind Chenzhou Zhuangyuan," said Li Zhilei. The store regularly hosts parent-child reading activities and knowledge contests about imperial examination culture, attracting students and parents from nearby schools. This integrated model of fast food, cultural creativity and public reading aligns perfectly with the national initiative for nationwide reading and the booming cultural tourism industry.

Evolving from a Single Restaurant to a Citywide Cultural IP

Li harbors ambitious long-term plans for the brand. "We aim to do more than run restaurants. We want to let more people know that Zhoukou was once called Chenzhou, a land of outstanding scholars with a timeless passion for education."

To fully explore local cultural characteristics, the brand plans to launch themed dishes such as Top-Scholar Noodles and Triple Success Set Meal, embedding cultural symbols into dish names and presentation. It also cooperates with local intangible cultural heritage inheritors to develop clay sculptures, paper-cuts and other cultural and creative products themed on top scholars, breathing new life into traditional folk crafts.

New stores are preferentially opened near schools, cultural blocks and tourist attractions. In the future, the brand will forge closer ties with local museums, libraries and research and study bases, striving to become a new business card for Zhoukou’s cultural tourism.

Cultural Confidence Expressed Through Taste

For Li Zhilei, who left his hometown and now returns to build up Chenzhou Zhuangyuan, inheriting local culture does not mean placing it on a pedestal. It is about interpreting traditional culture with modern commercial ideas. A bowl of noodles tells stories of perseverance; a restaurant acts as a cultural bridge linking the past and the present.

The title "Zhuangyuan", or top scholar, stands not merely for academic excellence in ancient exams, but also for the pursuit of excellence in all walks of life. When customers taste the food or take home a themed bookmar