Located where the Huangpu River meets Suzhou Creek, Shanghai’s North Bund has grown alongside the city’s rapid development. Today, it’s becoming a key spot for cultural exchange in an international metropolis.
The Grand Halls, a historic building redesigned with a blend of Chinese and Western styles, hosts events that connect China with the world. Since opening, it has held talks, performances, and exhibitions, fostering dialogue between tradition and modern creativity.
Culinary culture is a taste code and cultural gene that transcends borders and is an eternal theme of civilizational exchange.
On June 20, 2025, the annual brand day of the Grand Halls opened grandly with the theme "Chinese Elements, World Expression." This year, the World Reception Hall collaborated with the Clement Cultural Salon to plan this themed event, featuring cultural dialogues, artistic performances, and immersive experiences to explore the profound historical heritage of Chinese culinary culture, seek the inheritance and contemporary presentation of traditional wisdom, and promote the innovative expression and deep dissemination of national cultural soft power in a global context.
Rooted in Shanghai Style, Building the Height of the Era
Rooted in the open genes and Shanghai-style cultural background of the North Bund, the Grand Halls adheres to the mission of "telling China's story to the world and presenting China to the world," constructing a new international cultural venue that is inclusive and mutually beneficial, allowing the world to understand Chinese wisdom through tangible experiences.
Architecture is the solidified language of civilization. The Grand Halls, rebuilt from a century-old preserved building, is engraved with deep historical textures, blending Chinese and Western design concepts with elegance and grace, constructing a taste pattern that combines oriental elegance with global style. From art exhibitions and theme song releases to public open days, the Grand Halls is gradually taking on the special mission of building a highland for cultural and artistic exchanges, allowing the North Bund to reveal the warm background of cultural integration amidst the bustling scenes, injecting continuous spiritual vitality and cultural momentum into Shanghai's creation of a more leading world-class urban core area. Under this beautiful vision, a dialogue sharing on "Culinary Heritage and World Harmony" was born.
Using Culture as a Vessel, Pouring the Feast of the World
Culinary culture is the life philosophy passed down through generations in China and is also the soft power that promotes civilizational exchange. In this themed event, the Grand Halls meticulously planned four chapters of multidimensional culinary cultural experiences: "Taste of the Universe," "Artistic Taste," "Thousands of Colors," and "New Chapter of Taste," deeply sorting out and innovatively presenting Chinese culinary culture to showcase the real, three-dimensional, and comprehensive charm of Chinese culture to the world.
As the opening chapter, "Taste of the Universe" looks back at history, exploring the origins and development of many culinary anecdotes in traditional Chinese culture. Professor Fang Xiaoyi, a doctoral supervisor in the Chinese Department of East China Normal University and a topic expert on CCTV's "Chinese Poetry Conference," was invited to share the cultural implications behind the feast, tracing the thousand-year cultural context and tasting the roots and soul of civilization. Those Tang and Song poems that have been passed down for thousands of years are all reflections of the fusion of taste and emotion of the Chinese people. Subsequently, Zhang Jingwei, a research fellow at the Shanghai Museum, introduced the social changes and cultural codes behind ancient food utensils and wine vessels from the perspective of cultural relics. The melodious guzheng piece "Traveler," inspired by the cultural integration and historical accumulation of the Silk Road, was played on-site. In the stirring melody, the guests seemed to travel through a thousand years of time, touching the solid and warm roots of Chinese culinary culture.
The forms of cultural expression are ever-changing. The second chapter, "Artistic Taste," invited art critic Lin Mingjie to lead the guests through the corridor of art history, reading the cultural implications and spirit of the times solidified on the canvas through paintings. His profound insights immediately sparked a wonderful dialogue between collector Guo Weizhong and composer Chen Gang, who shared their unique views on "beauty" and "food" from the professional perspectives of art collection and music creation, adding depth and breadth to this cross-border dialogue. Subsequently, violinist Huang Mengla's daughter Huang Yuxin and pianist Song Siheng jointly performed the immortal piece "Butterfly Lovers," bringing this chapter to a lingering end.
The beauty of Chinese culinary culture lies in its vastness and diversity. The "Thousands of Colors" chapter focuses on the blood connection between culinary culture and regional culture. Renowned writer Shen Jialu, author of "Shanghai Old Taste" and "Eating Leftovers," used his profound cultural accumulation and keen observation to tell the historical geography, local customs, and cultural context behind different regional cuisines, sketching out the continuous cultural map of Chinese culinary culture.
Subsequently, the event reached its climax, with representatives of various major cuisines such as Duan Yu, Xu Fan, and Hou Xinqing bringing classic works that embody craftsmanship, as well as "hidden dishes" and innovative interpretations that subvert people's inherent perceptions. The guests demonstrated the essence of Chinese culinary skills on-site, explaining the balance between inheritance and innovation, bringing a grand parade of Chinese regional cuisines to the event, vividly interpreting the cultural concept of "harmony in diversity" and "beauty in unity."
The final chapter, "New Chapter of Taste," is a feast of thoughts focusing on the future path of Chinese culinary culture. Yong Jun, founder of Yongfu, Zhou Yuanchang, a national intangible cultural heritage inheritor and the main chef of Zhou She·Classic Shanghai Cuisine, and pianist Zhao Yinyin shared the stage, analyzing the inheritance context and contemporary expression of Chinese culinary culture in an international context from their deep industry accumulation and rich cross-cultural experiences. When the popular vocal group "Voice of Power" sang "Our Shanghai," the passionate and emotional melody, with its artistic appeal that transcends language, pushed the theme of "Hundred Flavors Return" to a second climax, symbolizing the beautiful vision of using culinary culture as a link to dialogue with the world and paint a picture of harmony.
With the Wind of Hundred Flavors, Sailing the World
The charm of the Grand Halls lies not only in the beauty of the venue, but also in the gathering of people and convergence of thoughts.
Industry leaders and opinion leaders from different fields gathered at the annual celebration of the Grand Halls, sharing their understanding and love for the aesthetics of life in the collision of thoughts and emotional resonance, gathering consensus and strength in the conversation.
This cross-border resonance is the unique value presented by this stage. Let the clash of thoughts leave a lingering warmth, help industry development with an open mind, and interpret cultural confidence with a profound vision.
In the future, the World Reception Hall will establish a regular dialogue mechanism, continuously increase openness, and turn more exchange and mutual learning results into high-quality public service products for the public.
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