Diners at new themed Beijing restaurant ‘time travel’ to ancient China
Yan Wai Yan dishes up an eight-act period performance with an eight-course meal and provides hanfu clothing for those wishing to dress up
Women wearing long wigs and ornate traditional dresses mill around a pebbled courtyard, stopping to snap photos under a pavilion, as the melodious strumming of a Chinese zither plays in the background.
These customers have paid to “time travel” back to ancient China for a few hours, in an experience offered by Yan Wai Yan, a new themed restaurant in central Beijing that provides clothing services and an eight-course meal.
Consumers born after the 1990s often buy things to “please themselves”, fuelling emotionally charged purchases in the country. Such purchases include Labubu dolls, which have flown off the shelves in China.
“New forms of consumption … [and] new trends” such as the toothy-grinned dolls could help boost China’s economy, commerce minister Wang Wentao said in July.
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Young diners ‘time travel’ back to ancient China