Aozao is the proud name of a Restaurant sitting on Tinglin Road of Kunshan City. On the front door hangs a plaque calligraphically inscribed with “Aozao Restaurant - Time-honored Store in China” by the famous calligrapher and painter Song Wenzhi, reminding you of its 148 years of history that stretches back to the 3rd year of Emperor Xian Feng of the Qing Dynasty (AD 1853). Initially named ‘Heavenly Aroma Restaurant’, it was abandoned by its then owner for poor business. A creditor took over and put it into the charge of Madame Chen Xiuying, a handy embroiderer and expert cook who listened attentively to her customers for improvement ideas and made quite a phenomenon of the Red Sauce Noodles (with spicy chilli condiments). Her efforts were amply rewarded by patrons who packed themselves like sardines in her then rather shabby little eatery and spread its good word around and beyond the town.

Its flavor and fame have sustained themselves through tumultuous decades of Chinese history and numerous renovations and makeovers, and now this Centenarian, with its mellowed youth, is enticing gourmets from around the global village.

There are many stories about how it came to be named Aozao (Ao=for noble or distinguished person, Zao= range or kitchen). One story goes that Qing Emperor Qian Long, one of a handful of beloved and most highly respected statesmen in Chinese history, was greatly impressed by the taste of the Red Sauce Noodle and decided to grace it with a new name, a usual honorary practice among important Chinese. So Aozao it became. Another more probable version goes that the grand restaurant today was a small dilapidated place with outrageously good business, which drew fire and ire from green-eyed competitors who ridiculed the Red Sauce Noodle as Auzo Noodle (meaning Noodle of foul filth in local patois). A scholar who lived nearby and often patronized was not quite pleased with all this rival-slandering and used his good knowledge of language to find two homophonic Chinese characters Aozao to give the restaurant a good name, and Aozao can also be taken to stand for profound culinary expertise. And thus it was named and the name spread afar.

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