Culinary voyage upstream

He began to learn how to cook Hubei cuisine in 1999 and only moved to Beijing in April to prepare for the opening of Qingshuiting. He not only brings with him the flavors of his hometown but also a mastery of the skills to create them.

"On one hand, Hubei cuisine is heavy on seasoning and relies on ingredients like salt, shallots, ginger and garlic. On the other hand, the seasoning is only used to stimulate the original flavors of the main ingredients, whether it's fish or lotus roots," he says.

Opening two months ago at the China World Mall, Qingshuiting's interior decor features eight scenes of Junzhou, the former name of Danjiangkou-the town that now lies at the bottom of the Danjiang River Reservoir.

One of Liu's signature dishes is big fish head with camellia oil, where each fish head weighs around 2.5 to 3 kilograms and is more than 3 years old.

According to Liu, the low temperatures of the Danjiang River mean that the fish grows slowly, and their heads become bigger than their bodies over time.