''Chinese Restaurant'' () is a Chinese celebrity

reality show Reality television is a genre of television programming that documents purportedly unscripted real-life situations, often starring unfamiliar people rather than professional actors. Reality television emerged as a distinct genre in the early 19 ...

broadcast by

Hunan Television Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a provincial satellite TV station officially launched on 29 September 1970 and is currently China's second-most-watched channel, second only to CCTV-1, owned by China Central Television, although Hunan STV occasi ...

. The show features five celebrities as they run a chinese restaurant abroad in 20 days with the aim to promote Chinese Food culture. It's Vicky Zhao's first reality show as a regular guest. The first season was taped in

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

, and it was premiered on 22 July 2017 with 11 episodes. The second season was taped in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

, and it was premiered on 20 July 2018 with 12 episodes. The third season was taped in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

, and it was premiered on 26 July 2019 with 13 episodes. The fourth season was taped in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's List of countries and dependencies by population, most populous country, with a Population of China, population exceeding 1.4 billion, slig ...

due to the ongoing

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identi ...

, and it was premiered on 31 July 2020 with 12 episodes. The fifth season was taped in China again, and it was premiered on 30 July 2021 with 12 episodes. The sixth season was taped in China the third time, and it was premiered on 12 August 2022 with 12 episodes.

Cast

Season 1

* Vicky Zhao *

Huang Xiaoming Huang Xiaoming or Mark Huang (, born 13 November 1977) is a Chinese actor, singer, and model. He graduated from the Performance Institute of the Beijing Film Academy in 2000. Huang first rose to prominence in 2001 for playing Emperor Wu of Han in ...

Zhou Dongyu Zhou Dongyu () is a Chinese actress, who gained recognition after appearing in Zhang Yimou's film '' Under the Hawthorn Tree''. She was also chosen by '' Southern Metropolis Daily'' as one of the " Four Dan actresses of the post-90s Generation" ...

* Sean Zhang * Enti Jin

Season 2

* Vicky Zhao *

Shu Qi use both this parameter and , birth_date to display the person's date of birth, date of death, and age at death) --> , death_place = , death_cause = , body_discovered = , resting_place = , resting_place_coordinate ...

Alec Su Alec Su You-peng (born 11 September 1973) is a Taiwanese actor, singer, television producer, and film director. Su became a popular teen idol in the 1980s as a member of the boyband '' Xiao Hu Dui''. He was known as the "Obedient Tiger" (乖� ...

Karry Wang Wang Junkai (, born 21 September 1999), also known as Karry Wang, is a Chinese singer and actor. He was a trainee of TF Family since 2010 and debuted as the leader of TFBOYS in 2013. He is one of China's wealthiest people born after 1990, with a ...

Pax Congo Bai Jugang ( zh, s=白举纲; born 9 November 1993), also known as Pax Congo, is a Chinese singer/songwriter, known for his participation on reality television competitions. Career In 2013, Bai was admitted to the undergraduate class of music p ...

Season 3

; Regular * Huang Xiaoming *

Qin Hailu Qin Hailu (, born 11 August 1978) is a Chinese actress, screenwriter and singer. She has won Best Actress at the Golden Horse Film Festival and Awards, Hong Kong Film Critics Society Award and Golden Bauhinia Awards. Early life and education ...

* Karry Wang (left in Episode 8 due to school work) * Yang Zi * Jack Lin ; Recurring * Tong Zhuo (start from Episode 3)

Season 4

* Huang Xiaoming *

Zanilia Zhao Zhao Liying (, born 16 October 1987), also known as Zanilia Zhao, is a Chinese actress and singer. She is best known for her roles in television series '' Legend of Lu Zhen'' (2013), '' Boss & Me'' (2014), ''The Journey of Flower'' (2015), ''The ...

* Sean Zhang * Jack Lin * Ariel Li

Season 5

; Regular * Huang Xiaoming *

Ning Jing Ning Jing (; born April 27, 1972) is a Chinese actress and singer. She is best known for playing Milan in ''In the Heat of the Sun'' (1994), Danzhu in '' Red River Valley'' (1997), Angel in '' Lover's Grief over the Yellow River'' (1999) and Emp ...

* Zhou Ye *

Tenzin Tsundue Tenzin Tsundue (born 1975) is a poet, writer and Tibetan refugee and activist. As of 2019 he has been taken into preventive custody, arrested or jailed 16 times for short durations for his activism by Indian authorities, as India does not allow ...

* Annabel Yao ; Recurring *

Gong Jun Gong Jun (, born 29 November 1992), also known as Simon Gong, is a Chinese actor. He gained attention for his role in ''Lost Love in Times'' (2017), and further recognition for his roles in ''Begin Again'' (2020), and '' Word of Honor'' (2021). ...

(Changsha) *

Tan Jianci Tan Jianci (; born October 5, 1990), also known by his stage name ''JC-T'', is a Chinese actor, singer, and dancer. He is the youngest member of the Chinese idol group M.I.C. Tan is now active as an actor in China and is known for his roles as ...

(Guilin)

Season 6

* Huang Xiaoming *

Yin Tao Yin Tao (, born 6 December 1979) is a Chinese actress. In 2017, she became one of the Chinese actresses to win the "Grand Slam", after winning the three biggest awards including the Feitian Awards, Golden Eagle Awards and the Magnolia Awards. B ...

* Yin Zheng *

Chen Linong Chen Linong (, born October 3, 2000) is a Taiwanese singer and actor active in mainland China. He took part in the Chinese survival show '' Idol Producer'' and debuted as a member of Chinese boy group Nine Percent as a vocalist. He released h ...

Zhang Ruonan Zhang Ruonan (, born 14 November 1996) is a Chinese actress. Biography In 2017 she officially entered the acting circle due to her film debut, "Cry Me a Sad River". In 2018, Zhang made her acting debut in the me. melodrama film ''Cry Me a Sa ...

List of guests

Season 1

* Cui Xinqin (Episode 4) * Mike D. Angelo (Episode 5) * Hongyok Chansakorn (Episode 5) * Boat Sirirod (Episode 5)

Season 2

Zhang Tielin Zhang Tielin (born 15 June 1957) is a British actor and film director. He is best known for portraying the Qianlong Emperor in the first two seasons of the Chinese television series ''My Fair Princess''. Early life and education Zhang was born ...

(Episode 4 – 5) *

Bao Bei'er Bao Bei'er (; born 3 May 1984) is a Chinese actor. He is noted for his roles as Lu Maoku and Zhang Kai in the films ''Welcome to Shama Town'' and '' So Young'' respectively. Early life Bao was born and raised in Harbin, Heilongjiang, his pare ...

(Episode 8 – 9) *

Yang Zishan Yang Zishan (, born 6 November 1986) is a Chinese actress. She is known for her breakout role in the film '' So Young'', which won her the Huabiao Award for Outstanding New Actress and the Best Actress awards at the 5th China Image Film Festival a ...

(Episode 8 – 9) * Huang Xiaoming (Episode 9 – 10)

Season 3

* Neil Gao (Episode 3 – 5) * Shen Mengchen (Episode 6 – 7) *

Du Haitao Du Haitao () (born 28 October 1987), is a Chinese actor, television host and a host of '' Happy Camp'' of Hunan TV Hunan Television or Hunan TV () is a provincial satellite TV station officially launched on 29 September 1970 and is currently Ch ...

(Episode 6 – 7) *

Dylan Wang Wang Hedi (; born 20 December 1998), also known as Dylan Wang, is a Chinese actor. He is best known for his debut lead role as Daoming Si in the 2018 television series '' Meteor Garden'', which propelled him to fame internationally. His other no ...

(Episode 9 – 11) * Alec Su (Episode 11 – 13)

Season 4

* Nemo Feng (Episode 4 – 6, 9 – 12) * Casper Chu (Episode 4 – 6, 9 – 12) *

Liu Yuning Liu Yuning (; born 8 January 1990) is a Chinese pop singer, actor, and the lead singer of Modern Brothers. In 2018 Liu rose to stardom by his covers on social media platforms, and released his debut single "Imagination" in September 15, 2018. He ...

(Episode 6 – 12) *

Yang Chaoyue Yang Chaoyue (, born July 31, 1998) is a Chinese actress and singer. After finishing third in Tencent's girl group survival show ''Produce 101'', she debuted as a member of Rocket Girls 101. She was named by ''China Newsweek'' as one of the mos ...

(Episode 8 – 12) * Du Haitao (Episode 9 – 12) * Karry Wang (Episode 9 – 12) * Li Zifeng (Episode 9 – 12) * Cai Cheng (Episode 9 – 12) * Joy Wang (Episode 9 – 12)

Season 6

Will Liu Will Liu (; born 7 October 1972) is a Taiwanese singer, dancer and composer. Background He is well known for his album ''Caihong Tiantang'' (彩虹天堂; "Rainbow Heaven") and is known as good friends with Taiwanese artists Jay Chou and Show ...

(Episode 4 – 6) * Vivi Wang (Episode 4 – 6) * Huang Xiaolei (Episode 6 – 7) * Hu Lianxin (Episode 6 – 7) * Wu Xingjian (Episode 6 – 7) *

Na Ying Na Ying (born 27 November 1967) is a Chinese singer and musical judge. She is known for her prominent roles as a judge on Chinese TV singing shows such as ''The Voice of China''. She later transferred to the show '' Sing! China'' and remained th ...

(Episode 9 – 10) * Cai Guoqing (Episode 11) *

Wowkie Zhang Wowkie Zhang or Da Zhang Wei (), is a Chinese singer, songwriter, and musician. He is best known as the lead singer, guitarist, and primary songwriter of the rock band, The Flowers. Early life and career 1983–1998 Zhang Wei was born ...

(Episode 11)

Theme Song

* "Chinese Restaurant" (Season 1 – 3) ** Composer: Tu Yi ** Lyricist: *** Meng Xiao (Season 1 & 2) *** Meng Xiao and Ye Feng (Season 3) **Performer: *** Vicky Zhao and Huang Xiaoming (Season 1) *** Zhou Dongyu (Special Edition of Season 1) *** Vicky Zhao and Alec Su (Season 2) *** Huang Xiaoming, Qin Hailu, Yang Zi and Karry Wang (Season 3) * "Chinese Flavor" (Season 4) ** Composer: Casper Chu, Gen Neo ** Lyricist: Casper Chu, Zhang Jinghao **Performer: *** Huang Xiaoming, Zanilia Zhao, Sean Zhang, Jack Lin, Ariel Li, Liu Yuning and Casper Chu *** Liu Yuning and Casper Chu *** Casper Chu * "The Flavor of China" (Season 5) ** Composer: Mo Yanlin ** Lyricist: Xia Nuo ** Performer: Huang Xiaoming and Ning Jing

International broadcast

Reception

Ratings

; Season 1 , - , 1 , , 1.369 , 7.31 , 3 , 1.36 , 8.7 , 1 , 1.52 , 9.04 , 1 , - , 2 , , 1.486 , 8.34 , 2 , , , 1 , , , 1 , - , 3 , , 1.351 , 7.50 , 1 , 1.34 , 8.73 , 1 , 1.6 , 9.48 , 1 , - , 4 , , 1.353 , 7.68 , 1 , 1.21 , 8.18 , 1 , 1.45 , 9.07 , 1 , - , 5 , , , , 1 , 1.38 , 9.39 , 1 , 1.55 , 9.64 , 1 , - , 6 , , 1.531 , 8.64 , 2 , 1.1 , 7.43 , 1 , 1.32 , 8.16 , 1 , - , 7 , , 1.129 , 6.70 , 3 , , 7.07 , 1 , 1.2 , 7.86 , 1 , - , 8 , , 1.193 , 6.94 , 1 , 1.06 , 7.62 , 1 , — , — , — , - , 9 , , , , 4 , 1.09 , 7.87 , 1 , 1.25 , 8.05 , 1 , - , 10 , , 1.049 , 6.30 , 6 , 0.98 , , 1 , , , 1 , - , 11 , , 1.085 , 6.74 , 2 , 1.08 , 7.81 , 1 , 1.27 , 8.21 , 1 ; Season 2 , - , 1 , , , , 1 , , , 1 , 1.43 , 10.8 , 1 , - , 2 , , 0.884 , 6.19 , 3 , 1.09 , 8.69 , 1 , — , — , — , - , 3 , , 0.748 , 5.36 , 4 , 0.83 , 6.72 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 4 , , 0.817 , 5.83 , 3 , 0.99 , 7.83 , 1 , — , — , — , - , 5 , , 0.693 , 4.79 , 5 , 0.78 , 6.44 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 6 , , 0.628 , 4.51 , 3 , 0.74 , 6.19 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 7 , , 0.615 , 4.39 , 3 , 0.68 , 5.5 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 8 , , 0.615 , 4.34 , 3 , 0.64 , 5.63 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 9 , , 0.673 , 4.78 , 4 , 0.6 , 4.95 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 10 , , 0.631 , 4.36 , 4 , 0.56 , 4.79 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 11 , , , 4.03 , 6 , 0.45 , 4.47 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 12 , , 0.553 , , 4 , , , 1 , — , — , — ; Season 3 , - , 1 , , , , 4 , , , 2 , 0.97 , 7.94 , 2 , - , 2 , , 0.628 , 5.06 , 3 , 0.61 , 5.76 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 3 , , 0.685 , 5.63 , 3 , 0.64 , 6.68 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 4 , , 0.708 , 5.94 , 4 , 0.57 , 5.99 , 2 , 0.75 , 6.87 , 2 , - , 5 , , 0.703 , 5.89 , 4 , 0.56 , 5.7 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 6 , , 0.641 , 5.98 , 3 , 0.53 , 6.36 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 7 , , 0.655 , 5.55 , 5 , 0.55 , 6.19 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 8 , , 0.609 , 4.47 , 8 , 0.45 , 4.49 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 9 , , 0.573 , 4.94 , 4 , 0.35 , 4.29 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 10 , , 0.544 , 4.84 , 5 , — , — , — , — , — , — , - , 11 , , 0.552 , 4.72 , 6 , 0.42 , 4.74 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 12 , , 0.490 , 4.16 , 4 , , 3.49 , 1 , — , — , — , - , 13 , , , , 8 , 0.27 , , 1 , — , — , — ; Season 4 , - , 1 , , 1.027 , 5.97 , 9 , 0.65 , , 2 , — , — , — , - , 2 , , , 14.43 , 4 , — , — , — , — , — , — , - , 3 , , 1.911 , 13.45 , 4 , — , — , — , — , — , — , - , 4 , , 2.030 , 15.84 , 3 , , , 2 , , , 2 , - , 5 , , 1.789 , 13.59 , 3 , 0.67 , 7.40 , 2 , 0.93 , 8.69 , 2 , - , 6 , , 1.507 , 11.97 , 3 , — , — , — , — , — , — , - , 7 , , 0.983 , 10.02 , 2 , — , — , — , — , — , — , - , 8 , , 1.693 , , 3 , — , — , — , , — , 2 , - , 9 , , 1.516 , 12.35 , 4 , , 7.37 , 2 , 0.84 , , 2 , - , 10 , , 1.363 , 10.83 , 3 , 0.64 , 7.19 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 11 , , , , 7 , — , — , — , — , — , — , - , 12 , , 1.493 , 11.09 , 3 , 0.68 , 7.39 , 2 , 1.02 , 9.43 , 2 ; Season 5 , - , 1 , , 1.879 , 14.83 , 2 , 0.72 , 7.77 , 1 , 1.06 , 9.9 , 1 , - , 2 , , , 15.15 , 2 , , 8.79 , 1 , , 10.74 , 1 , - , 3 , , 1.789 , 13.70 , 3 , 0.74 , 7.7 , 1 , 1.08 , 9.81 , 1 , - , 4 , , 1.838 , 14.44 , 2 , 0.65 , 7.31 , 1 , , , 1 , - , 5 , , 1.884 , 14.44 , 1 , 0.75 , 8.27 , 1 , 1.05 , 9.95 , 1 , - , 6 , , 1.797 , 13.85 , 2 , 0.68 , 7.77 , 1 , 0.99 , 9.8 , 1 , - , 7 , , 1.813 , 15.65 , 1 , 0.68 , 8.58 , 1 , 1.0 , 10.67 , 1 , - , 8 , , 1.720 , , 3 , 0.56 , , 1 , 0.84 , , 1 , - , 9 , , 1.832 , 14.53 , 2 , 0.61 , 6.89 , 1 , — , — , — , - , 10 , , , , 3 , 0.5 , , 2 , — , — , — , - , 11 , , 1.318 , 13.41 , 3 , , 6.27 , 2 , — , — , — , - , 12 , , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — , — ; Season 6 , - , 1 , , 1.376 , 11.60 , 5 , 1.52 , 4.93 , 1 , - , 2 , , 1.643 , 13.50 , 5 , 1.54 , 4.94 , 1 , - , 3 , , 1.568 , 12.39 , 5 , 1.48 , 4.68 , 1 , - , 4 , , 2.044 , , 3 , 1.28 , 3.78 , 2 , - , 5 , , , , 6 , 1.47 , 4.41 , 2 , - , 6 , , 1.769 , 15.82 , 2 , 1.54 , 4.75 , 2 , - , 7 , , 1.828 , 17.01 , 2 , , , 2 , - , 8 , , , 16.85 , 3 , 1.52 , 4.4 , 2 , - , 9 , , 1.634 , 13.68 , 4 , , , 2 , - , 10 , , 1.944 , 16.40 , 2 , 1.26 , 3.9 , 1 , - , 11 , , 1.981 , 16.42 , 2 , 1.26 , 3.9 , 2 , - , 12 , , — , — , — , 1.30 , 4.1 , 2

Awards and nominations

Influences

After premiering of the first season on 22 July 2017, the canned bacon labeled " SPAM" was sold out in Chinese online shopping in several hours, which Vicky Zhao bought in a Thailand supermarket and cooking in the show. After premiering of the second season on 20 July 2018, the

white stork The white stork (''Ciconia ciconia'') is a large bird in the stork family, Ciconiidae. Its plumage is mainly white, with black on the bird's wings. Adults have long red legs and long pointed red beaks, and measure on average from beak tip to e ...

toy was sold out in Chinese online shopping in several days, which repeated Vicky Zhao's words in the show.

Controversy

''Chinese Restaurant'' has been accused of plagiarism in regards to its format being very similar to South Korean reality show

tvN TVN may refer to: * TVN (Australian TV channel), a former horse racing channel * Televisión Nacional de Chile, a public broadcaster * TVN (Indonesia), a former television station; predecessor of Rajawali Televisi * TVN (Norway), or TVNorge, a comm ...

's ''

Youn's Kitchen ''Youn's Kitchen'' () is a South Korean television reality show that aired on tvN on Fridays nights from March 24, 2017 to March 23, 2018, for a total of twenty episodes. Cast Season 1 Season 2 Main dish Season 1 Youn's main ingredient wa ...

''. Both shows are food-themed and work with the concept of ''overseas restaurants''.

Na Young-seok Na Yeong-seok (, born April 15, 1976), often known by his nickname Na PD, is a South Korean television producer and director. Na is best known for producing the popular variety- reality shows '' 2 Days & 1 Night'', ''New Journey to the West'', ...

, producer of ''Youn's Kitchen'' responded to the claim, stating that "The oun's Kitchenformat is not expensive to purchase. If they purchase the format, I can help them on specific details as well."

References

External links

* *
''Chinese Restaurant'' (season 1)
on

Mango TV Mango TV (芒果TV, ''Mángguǒ TV''; MGTV) is a Chinese media company controlled by state-owned Hunan Broadcasting System. Mango TV was established on May 26, 2006, in Changsha, Hunan and later decided to use 'Mango TV (Internet TV, PC, Phone and ...

''Chinese Restaurant'' (season 2)
on

''Chinese Restaurant'' (season 3)
on

''Chinese Restaurant'' (season 4)
on

''Chinese Restaurant'' (season 6)
on

* * * *
''Chinese Restaurant'' (season 2)
on TVB.com * * * * * * {{Hunan Broadcasting System Hunan Television original programming Chinese reality television series 2017 Chinese television series debuts Television shows involved in plagiarism controversies