Bringing friends together through ritual

Gu Feng, a 45-year-old local resident who usually would have a small mutton "feast" once or twice a month, recently treated himself to a hearty bowl of mutton at Zhou's restaurant to mark his birthday.

For 55-year-old Sheng Wenping, Zhou's restaurant is the first place he visits most of the week. He and his friends often enjoy the soup and slowly sip the rice wine, with casual chitchat as the appetizer.

"Mutton used to be a luxury in daily meals, but now it has become affordable as our lives get better …We are not tasting a meal, but tasting life," Sheng says, laughing.

Like Sheng, retired residents make up the majority of the restaurant's regular customers, whom Zhou regards as old friends or even family members. When Zhou scrambles to serve the full tables, the customers tend to themselves and even others. Many elderly people moving to the city center or other cities also gather from time to time at Zhou's place in search of nostalgic flavors and atmosphere.