11/11/2026
When I read the story of Qu Yuyu (屈雨瑜), one thought immediately came to mind: "If I don't write about her, my children may never know her story. I must share it with them!"
In China, there is a high-stakes professional cooking competition show produced by Tencent Video, first aired in July 2025. It is called 一饭封神 (Yī Fàn Fēng Shén) One Dish to Glory or win legendary status with a single dish.
100 chefs compete in it. The challengers face tight time limits, surprise ingredient tests, blind challenges. The championship prize and title is “Kitchen God (厨神).”
Qu Yuyu was the champion on season 1. She was the first female winner and youngest champion of the show, winning in September 2025 with an all-egg final challenge.
I write this not because she is the youngest champion or the first woman to win the competition, but because she has found her own path to success without following the conventional route.
In China, many young people grow up believing that the most reliable path to a bright future is to study hard, pass the national college entrance examination, and enter a good university. Academic achievement is often regarded as the foundation of all.
Qu Yuyu's story offers a different path.
She did not follow that route. Instead, she chose to pursue something she genuinely loved: cooking.
At 17, she enrolled in a culinary vocational school in Guangzhou and studied there for just nine months. She then entered the working world, where she learned through practice, observation, and experience.
Her early career was not easy. She was often assigned to the cold kitchen, while the hot kitchen—the place where she really wanted to work—was largely dominated by men. When an opportunity finally appeared, it went to a newly hired male chef.
But she did not give up. She stayed after work to help in the hot kitchen, volunteered to do preparation work, and continued looking for opportunities to learn.
What Her Story Means to Me
What impresses me most about Qu Yuyu is how she won a national cooking competition at the age of 30.
No conventional academic credentials that many people in China consider essential for success, she had something more important: a willingness to learn, the courage to go her own path, and the determination to make the most of every opportunity.
Her story reminds me of the saying: 条条大路通罗马。Tiáo tiáo dà lù tōng Luómǎ. All roads lead to Rome.
There is more than one way to reach a meaningful destination in life. A university degree can open doors, but it is not the only path to knowledge, professional achievement, or personal fulfillment.
More importantly, Qu Yuyu's experience also reminds me that learning does not end when we leave school. Sometimes, the most important lessons come from our workplace and our experiences, from the people around us, from mistakes, and from opportunities we choose to seize.
I hope my children will understand that their educational background or the path they choose at an early age does not have to define their future.
All roads lead to Rome—but whichever road we take, we must keep learning along the way.