i. Biography
The Climb
Huaiyang cuisine asks for control: clean knife work, measured seasoning, and the ability to keep a dish composed under pressure. Hou Xinqing, a Chinese chef working in that tradition, built his standing through precisely that kind of discipline. The Jiangsu Province May 1 Labor Medal, awarded in 2019, is one of the clearest markers of how his work has been received inside the trade. 2005 marked the opening of a formative run in Hou Xinqing’s career. In Zhongshan, he served as chef of the Jiangnan Qu Restaurant at Zhongshan Shangri-La Hotel; in Beijing, he worked as Huaiyang Cuisine Chef at Summer Palace Chinese Restaurant, Beijing China World Hotel. Those positions placed him in two hotel kitchens with different rhythms and expectations, but the same underlying demand: consistency. In that environment, Huaiyang cuisine depends on repeatable execution, balance, and the kind of attention that shows up in the final pass. From those kitchens, Hou Xinqing moved into wider responsibility within Shangri-La Group, and the arc of his career shows how technical steadiness can support larger oversight. The progression reads less like reinvention than accumulation: work at the stove, then work across kitchens. For a chef shaped by Jiangsu and by Huaiyang cuisine, that combination of restaurant practice and regional leadership defines the scope of his current position.
Today
Jiwan in Doha is the present stage for Hou Xinqing’s Huaiyang specialization. The restaurant gives his background a new setting, but the center of gravity remains Jiangsu Province and the kitchens that formed his approach. That continuity matters in Chinese cuisine: technique travels, but it carries the discipline of where it was learned. Regional Chinese Executive Chef at Shangri-La Group is the larger frame around that restaurant work. The title points to oversight beyond one dining room, while still keeping Chinese cuisine, rather than a general hotel remit, at the center. For Hou Xinqing, it locates his current role in stewardship as much as service.
Signature
Crab Roe Tofu with Caviar and Black Truffle Catfish Belly Stuffed with Meat sit at the center of Hou Xinqing’s signature. The dishes show a kitchen working with richness and restraint at once, using familiar Chinese foundations and presenting them with a more polished frame. Even in the names, the priorities are clear: texture, contrast, and exact placement.
Recognition
The Jiangsu Province May 1 Labor Medal and Nanjing City Model Worker together trace how Hou Xinqing’s work has been recognized over time. One marks provincial standing; the other connects him to a city-level honor. Read together, they place his career within the public record of Chinese culinary labor, with Jiangsu remaining a fixed point in that story.
Profile updated July 2026
FAQ
Asked of Hou
Where did Hou Xinqing work before?
Hou Xinqing's earlier career included Zhongshan Shangri-La Hotel and Summer Palace Chinese Restaurant, Beijing China World Hotel.
What recognition has Hou Xinqing received?
Jiangsu Province May 1 Labor Medal (2019).
