A Wuhan Food-Crawl Diary 1

AI translation notice: This English version was translated from the original Chinese article with AI assistance. Some nuances may differ from the original.

I had been in Wuhan for more than a month. Apart from going downtown for the IELTS exam or to deal with a few personal matters, I had not really taken the time to see the city simply as a tourist. Then, this week, I came across an interesting Wuhan-based creator. They used characters from my favorite anime, Bocchi the Rock!, to visit restaurants all over Wuhan, and the videos were edited in a very entertaining way (I kept watching one more episode). The food was also exactly the kind I like. Since I had been worrying about having nowhere to go, I decided to follow the creator's route for a day.

Route:

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The Creator's Recommendation!

Or perhaps I should say, the recommended creator, hehe (¬◡¬)✧

This creator posts videos on Bilibili. I happened to scroll onto this one and discovered that Wuhan had a Michelin restaurant that was this affordable! Since I had just arrived in Wuhan and did not know where to begin exploring, I made up my mind to visit it on the weekend.

Macau Chan Kwong Kee Roast Meat Restaurant

This was the restaurant mentioned in the creator's video. I set out early, spent more than an hour on the metro, and arrived at the storefront.

The restaurant is in central Wuhan, less than 200 meters along the road from the northwest gate of Zhongshan Park. There is no commercial street around it and no flashy sign—only a simple, plain storefront. A school stands across the road, so the restaurant feels like the small noodle shops often found outside primary schools: quietly existing there and tending to its modest business.

Next came the ordering. I did not follow the creator's recommendations; treating it as my first visit, I ordered a few things I personally like:

Chilled tofu pudding, double-combo rice, char siu pastry, pineapple ice, and lau nai wah—a Hong Kong-style French toast dessert.

Neither the tofu pudding nor the pineapple ice was particularly surprising, but both were solid and satisfying.

The tofu pudding had absolutely no beany smell. It carried a faint soybean fragrance, was smooth and tender, and came with osmanthus honey that was not cloying or harsh on the throat. It was cold, refreshing, and wonderfully thirst-quenching. As a soda, the pineapple ice was barely sweet; nearly all the sweetness came from the melted ice cream and pineapple. Its only flaw was that there was not enough of it to drink with abandon.

The double-combo rice and char siu pastry were what really surprised me. The moment these two dishes entered my mouth, the only word that came to mind was: satisfaction.

First, the double-combo rice. The fatty char siu was pleasantly springy, with a rich sauce aroma. A little honey drizzled over it added another layer of flavor. The fat was soft and bouncy rather than greasy enough to coat the mouth unpleasantly. The roast duck had skin as thin as paper; eaten together with the sauce beneath it, it perfectly compensated for the slightly dry texture of the duck meat itself. It was not flawless, though. As the photos show, the plate was covered with a glossy layer of oil mixed with the honey drizzle. By the second half of the meal, it became somewhat rich and difficult for someone like me—who had been eating relatively lightly recently—to digest.

Now, the honey-glazed char siu pastry. As soon as it arrived, it gave off the buttery, flaky aroma of a freshly baked pastry. Once I bit in, that fragrance filled my nose. Unlike at some restaurants, the honey glaze did not contain undissolved sugar crystals that scraped against the teeth. Perhaps it was because the pastry had just been baked, or perhaps the honey water had been mixed to exactly the right concentration so that it would not crystallize. The meat filling had been cut into tiny pieces. Yet once I pressed it with my tongue, it did not feel like a collection of separate chunks. I suspect they used fatty meat from a cut with little connective tissue, so it did not interfere with the texture. It was deeply satisfying.

I did not really enjoy the lau nai wah. To me, it was pure sugar-and-fat. After the double-combo rice and char siu pastry, I needed something lighter to cleanse my palate, and ordering it after the meal was a mistake that got in the way of enjoying it. I will keep that in mind next time.

As the first Michelin restaurant of my life, it left me very satisfied. At around ¥100 per person, it was also affordable. I would like to return one day and try the creator's recommendations.

Zhongshan Park

After lunch I was incredibly full. My reservation at the provincial museum was not until 3 p.m., so there was still plenty of time. I decided to walk around the nearby Zhongshan Park.

The trees in the park were extremely thick and tall, suggesting that Zhongshan Park had existed here for a very long time. I was surprised to find a fairly substantial amusement park as well: a small roller coaster, a pirate ship, and several other medium-sized rides, all built in 2023. The classic boating attraction was still there too. It was a case of “old trees growing new branches”—the park retained the steadiness of its history while also feeling lively and fresh.

After a simple walk through Zhongshan Park to digest lunch, I set off for the Hubei Provincial Museum to finally meet the Sword of Goujian, King of Yue, and the Marquis Yi of Zeng's bronze bells—two treasures I had been looking forward to seeing.

Hubei Provincial Museum

My reservation was for 3 p.m., but I arrived at 2:20. To give every visitor the best possible experience, the museum only allows entry up to 20 minutes before the reserved time (be sure to note this!).

As soon as I entered, I hurried toward the South Hall, where the Sword of Goujian is displayed.

Even after entering the museum, getting a glimpse of the real sword required a long wait. Only then could I look at it for a few seconds among the crowd surrounding the display case.

The whole sword was only about as long as a forearm—much smaller than I had imagined. It looked a little like an ancient person's collectible figure (although according to the information, it was still a practical weapon). Seeing the real object was different from seeing it on television. We could not make out the details, but the museum had a complete exhibition and introduction devoted to the sword, and I still learned a great deal.

Next, I headed for the second national treasure: the bronze bells of Marquis Yi of Zeng.

The hall containing the bells was much larger. Its display panels explained the details of Marquis Yi, the excavation, and the other instruments used alongside the bells.

There were also bronze objects of all sizes around them. Their shapes and details were beyond anything I had imagined. Even with today's technology and methods, I am not sure they could be perfectly reproduced. There were many more national treasures, but here I will simply record a few that impressed me most.

Huahua Pizza

After the museum, I went to another restaurant recommended by the creator mentioned at the beginning: Huahua Pizza.

The decor was simple and attractive, bright and fresh, and the street outside was very clean.

Since lunch had left me extremely full, I ordered an eight-inch Margherita pizza (¥20) and a serving of fried chicken, the restaurant's top seller.

The Margherita pizza arrived first. The price was fairly reasonable. (A street cart I often visit in Xiamen sells a nine-inch pizza for the same ¥20, although this restaurant has a much nicer environment.) Overall, it tasted fine—it tasted like a Margherita pizza, and I am not sure what else a Margherita pizza is supposed to do... Let me mention a few disappointments. First, the basil had been baked until slightly bitter and had lost its fresh fragrance, and there was not much of it. I really like the aroma of basil, but I could barely taste it here. Second, although the pizza was made to order, the wheat aroma of the crust was not prominent enough and the crust was not chewy enough. That was a little disappointing.

Next came the restaurant's best-selling boneless fried chicken, which the creator had recommended enthusiastically. Even with expectations that high, the plate still surprised me.

The crust was not merely crisp; it was coated in enormous bread crumbs, and the crust alone could compete with packaged potato chips. The base seasoning of the meat was balanced: it did not overpower the chicken's own flavor, but you could still taste the care that had gone into seasoning it. More importantly, the chicken inside was full of juice. Dipped into the sauce provided, the entire portion was not greasy even when eaten by one person.

If you want a satisfying meal on a small budget, this restaurant is genuinely worth visiting.

Conclusion

Following “氵皮ki酱” led me to two restaurants and showed me that Wuhan has not only a formidable history but also an incredibly rich food scene. My stomach was full, but my heart felt strangely empty—there were still so many recommended restaurants I had not had time to visit and so many sights I had not had time to see.

But that is all right. This was only the beginning of one of my many weekends in Wuhan. My exam preparation continues, but whenever I have free time, I will keep exploring the city's different sides. After all, life is not only about the hardship immediately before us (11408); it also includes Wuhan's hidden restaurants and the next journey of discovery.