Time for a Tan

Although Liu Guozhu was inspired to become a chef like his father and uncle before him, the executive chef of Golden Flower really learned how to cook from the age of 16, when he was chosen as one of 15 apprentices in the kitchens of the Beijing Hotel.

"At the time, the hotel restaurant only served high officials and foreign dignitaries," Liu, 65, recalls. "Ordinary people were not allowed inside the hotel, so we knew we had an important job to do."

He remembers spending the first six months only doing simple jobs, such as cleaning vegetables that came straight from farms, and then beginning to learn how to cook.

Liu spent more than two decades at the Beijing Hotel, on the corner of Wangfujing Street and Chang'an Avenue. He has fond memories of his early years there, as the nearby Great Hall of the People did not have a proper kitchen, making the hotel responsible for all the catering during large events.

"We had to prepare food three days in advance. There was so much to do, we didn't go home - we just slept where we could find a spot. All we thought about was what tasks we had to do," he recalls.

The affable Beijinger was so enthusiastic and hardworking that the master chefs quickly took Liu under their wings, teaching him various provincial and regional cuisines - and eventually, Liu learned the art of Tan cuisine.