The founder and chef at Plant-Based Kitchen, a vegetarian fine-dining restaurant in the southern Chinese city of Guangzhou, says that as a teenager in the northeast city of Qingdao , he could not get a kitchen to take him seriously. In July 2025, when Li was just 23, the Michelin Guide Guangzhou recognised his restaurant in its Michelin Selected category, a distinction for venues without stars that the guide recommends. This made him the youngest chef in China to be celebrated by the guide. Li’s dish titled Organic Corn 3.0 at Plant-Based Kitchen. Photo: Plant-Based KitchenPreviously, the youngest chef to hold that distinction was Li Zhanxu of Qu Lang Yuan in Beijing, who was 27 when she earned the Beijing Michelin Guide Young Chef Award in 2024.