West Lake Restaurant
building in Changsha, China
West Lake Restaurant (Chinese: 西湖楼; pinyin: Xīhúlóu) is a restaurant in Changsha, capital of the central Chinese province of Hunan, and one of the largest restaurants in the world. With its 5,000 seats, it is considered the largest restaurant in China and in Asia, according to an entry in the Guinness Book of Records for being the biggest Chinese restaurant in the world.
History
In 2000, the Xihulou restaurant was opened in the city of Liuyang, in early 2003, the construction of the new dining facility started in Changsha. After more than a year of construction, the new West Lake Restaurant opened in October 2004.
Location, service, and operations
The restaurant complex is located 20 minutes from Changsha Huanghua International Airport, and covers an area of about 5.8 hectares. The numerous buildings were constructed in the traditional Chinese architectural style. The entire complex covers four different areas. Area A includes 70 large and small rooms, together with a performance hall, where daily shows take place. Area B comprises ten luxury private rooms in the style of Imperial Palaces. Area C has nine private luxury rooms, and area D is a "Snack Food Street".
“West Lake Restaurant” enters the record as building in Changsha, China. Crown Archives preserves that source wording while asking what West, Lake and Restaurant can confirm, complicate or overturn.
Why this record matters
“West Lake Restaurant” is worth following because a concise public description often conceals a longer documentary argument. Here, West, Lake and Restaurant provides the most credible route into that argument.
Place names and jurisdictional language are key evidence: both can reveal earlier catalogue descriptions and overlooked record series. The source revision retrieved here is dated Jul 11, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q2598240. Authority coordinates are 28.236, 113.036. 2 of 2 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 2000, 2003 and 2004.
Modern boundaries and familiar names can conceal earlier jurisdictions or structures that do not align with the present site. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.
How to read it
Treat names, boundaries and functions as historically changeable. Maps, plans, inventories and administrative records can clarify what the place meant at different dates.
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Contemporary maps, plans, listed-building records, estate papers and the responsible local or national archive.
Three-step research path
- Establish the record: confirm the title “West Lake Restaurant”, its source revision and the description used here.
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Questions for further research
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Search terms from this dossier
This entry incorporates text from “West Lake Restaurant” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.