Guangzhou's century-old restaurant closes
(Shenzhen Daily)
Updated: 2005-02-23 09:41

Taipingguan's first floor is now being transformed for small vendors selling cotton-padded jackets and underwear. [photo source: Nanfang Daily]

A restaurant with a history of more than 120 years closed in Guangzhou in early January, the Guangzhou Daily reported Tuesday.

The restaurant, Taipingguan, opened in 1885 the in Qing Dynasty and had hosted the former Premier Zhou Enlai's wedding ceremony in 1925.

However, the four-floor restaurant was empty Monday and a huge black-and-white picture of Premier Zhou and his wife that used to hang on the second floor was also missing.

The restaurant's first floor is now being transformed for small vendors selling cotton-padded jackets and underwear. The other three floors are still waiting to be leased.

A restaurant spokesman, surnamed Dai, confirmed the closure on Jan. 4, and said they were looking for lessees to open small shops.

Dai said half the restaurant area, about 1,000 square meters, was retained by the land owner, and the remaining 1,400 square meters was too small for a restaurant.

But Dai said they would find another bigger place and rebuild the restaurant, so the name and dishes would not be lost forever.

During the past century, the restaurant served more than 800 western style dishes. Some people who had lived in Guangzhou for decades still remember trying the original Menu for the Premier couple.

In 2000, the Guangzhou government named the Taipingguan one of the city's oldest restaurants.