Like a hidden retreat once reserved for China’s ancient emperors, beyond the watch of men in black guarding the entrance opposite Beijing’s historical Lama Temple, a narrow stone path leads quietly into a courtyard.
Mist drifts softly along the walkway. At its end, a woman draped in a plain cloak over a traditional Chinese dress waits beside a limewashed wall that shields the courtyard from the bustling streets of old Beijing. With a gentle gesture, she invites guests to step into the dining destination.
It is not the kind of restaurant one would go to every day. It’s a place earmarked for special occasions: proposals, anniversaries or hosting.
However, there’s one kind of guest who is not able to enjoy the elegant establishment, even on special occasions, even if they’re paying for the meal themselves: Chinese officials.
Under government orders, officials have been banned from eating at the restaurant since last year, a Chinese source familiar with the matter told CNN.
The venue is called King’s Joy. The combination of the characters in Chinese refers to the rich cultural heritage of Beijing, capital of four imperial dynasties. Reservations here have become highly sought after, with wealthy and famous Chinese competing with foreign visitors for tables. Increasingly, China’s rising middle class is also trying to get in on the action.
King’s Joy is famous for its entirely vegetarian menu made from ingredients sourced only from China. These are prepared using humble cooking techniques, then plated elegantly amid classical surroundings to create a Zen environment.
Inside, a polished black marble floor stretches across the center of the room like a deep lake. Tables are arranged around its edge and a harpist performs at its center. In daylight, the shifting seasons and changing light of the restaurant’s courtyard are visible through its windows. When evening falls, the interior is lit by softly glowing silk chandeliers and the flicker of candlelight.
Saying that King’s Joy has been a success is an understatement. It is the only Chinese restaurant in the world that has won both three Michelin stars and Michelin’s Green Star for sustainable practices. It has been called “the world standard of vegetarian dining” by the World’s 50 Best restaurant rating list. Its operating model was made into a case study at Harvard Business School in 2019.
It seems counterintuitive that officials are not allowed to dine at such a high-profile restaurant, especially one that has been successful at promoting Chinese food at a time when Beijing is keen to promote its soft power abroad.
Since last year, King’s Joy is one of several dozen establishments in Beijing that officials are not allowed to visit, according to a Chinese source. The list is not made public. There is no official explanation of the ban.
One possible reason could be the cost: a meal at King’s Joy starts at $250 per person, putting it at odds with Chinese leader Xi Jinping’s signature, unrelenting anti-corruption drive.
Xi has made lavish banquets and excessive drinking a main target of his years-long war on graft, saying that such practices may lead to moral decay within the Communist Party.
The average monthly salary for government workers in Beijing is around $1,600, China’s statistics bureau reported in 2025. That relatively modest income would be at odds with visits to high-end places and could give the impression that public funds were being misused, or officials had received or were engaging in bribery.
The ban probably isn’t a surprise to those it affects. Numerous luxurious private clubs were ordered to shut in 2014 as Beijing ramped up its anti-corruption drive to curb officials’ once lavish lifestyles.
Xi is known for preferring simple, homemade meals on his trips around China. In 2013, he was photographed lining up for a tray of steamed buns at a roadside restaurant in Beijing, an image carefully curated to show his closeness to ordinary people.
Gary Yin, the executive chef of King’s Joy, told CNN that he has heard rumors of the ban but has not observed any evidence of it himself.
A restaurant and a tourist attraction
King’s Joy sits within Beijing’s old imperial center, about four miles from the Forbidden City. It is also just several subway stops away from where many central government ministries and foreign embassies have their offices.
While people around the world embrace vegetarian diets for a variety of reasons, vegetarianism has a long and interesting history in China. For centuries, it was associated with Buddhist practice and frugal living. But chef Yin’s ability to take simple, humble dishes and turn them into a luxurious experience has won him many fans. “We chose to pursue high-end dining because Beijing is such an influential city — culturally, politically and historically,” said Yin.
“Being located within the old imperial heart of the capital also gives us the opportunity to influence influential people and encourage them to speak on behalf of vegetarianism and sustainable dining,” he added.
“If government officials recognize and support these ideas, that could help advance legislation in areas such as animal welfare, the promotion of vegetables and support for cleaner, organic agricultural practices.”
Yin’s father, David Yin, was a lifelong supporter of vegetarianism. He founded King’s Joy in 2010 and named it for a restaurant his family used to run in Taipei.
Originally from Beijing, the Yins moved to Taiwan in 1966, opening a restaurant that was famous for serving imperial-style pastries. Its pea pudding was said to be a favorite of Empress Dowager Cixi in the late Qing dynasty.
The Yin family later moved to Canada in 1995, returning to Beijing 15 years later to set up the restaurant by the Lama Temple.
These days, Gary is in charge of the restaurant while his sister Mia is the pastry chef.
Since opening its doors in 2012, King’s Joy has become the gold standard of vegetarian fine dining in China and been frequented by many celebrities, from Rupert Murdoch to Ashin, lead singer of the Taiwanese band Mayday. Foreign figureheads, such as Italian President Sergio Mattarella and Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez, have dined there during state visits.
Bernhard Schwartländer, the former assistant director general at the World Health Organization and its representative to China, told CNN that he has been to King’s Joy several times. “They have mastered the art of preparing food that doesn’t contain any meat or fish products. It’s a mixture of being very light, very fresh, but also very, very, very tasteful,” he said. “The restaurant itself, of course, is an oasis of beauty. The service is exceptional.”
King’s Joy has also become a unique cultural landmark for many first-time Western tourists visiting China. While they’re undoubtedly drawn by its fame, the vegetarian menu will also be viewed as reassuring by some foreign visitors concerned about food safety and unfamiliar culinary styles.
According to Yin, the vast majority of King’s Joy diners aren’t vegetarians.
The restaurant serves a set meal with individual plates rather than the large, shared platters that can be common elsewhere in China. Menus are available in Chinese and English and most restaurant staffers speak both fluently.
King’s Joy has a seasonal menu that rotates every two weeks. In China, that doesn’t just mean spring, summer, fall and winter — the year is divided into 24 solar periods with poetic names like “rainwater” and “white dew.” Depending on the time of visit, diners could try Manchurian rice silk with black truffle and lily bulbs, soup made with bamboo pith, or osmanthus milk pudding. Lesser-known Chinese ingredients like gorgon fruit — a round and reddish brown seed — make appearances on the menu too. The restaurant also offers pairings with homemade fermented drinks along with tea or wine.
Yin doesn’t think that vegetarian food should be an afterthought in China.
“There is already such a deep foundation of cooking techniques, flavor development, and culinary sophistication,” he says. “And yet many restaurants still do not treat vegetables as the true centerpiece of a dish. It is a pity.
“Instead, countries like Thailand, India and even many Western countries whose cuisines are traditionally far less centered around vegetables have developed vibrant vegetarian dining cultures. In a country like China, being able to enjoy truly delicious vegetarian cuisine should really be something natural and expected.”
What’s changed isn’t the existence of vegetarian food in China — it’s the fact that it can be upscale and expensive.
These days, about 4% of the Chinese population identifies as vegetarian, according to a state-run media study from 2024. Chinese Dietary Guidelines, an official set of nutrition and healthy eating suggestions, began including guidelines for vegetarians in 2016.
Fuchsia Dunlop, a British author and chef specializing in Chinese cuisine, said presenting vegetarian food for mainstream diners rather than Buddhists was still a radical move in China.
“The other radical thing is that they’re very expensive,” she said. “It’s very radical to ask people to pay a lot of money for vegetable ingredients.
“And I think that what’s happening now is that people are interested in vegetarian food as a more lifestyle choice, not a religious one. It [gives] a kind of freedom for vegetarian food.”
