A Beijing dumpling restaurant is attracting attention by giving diners AI computing credits instead of traditional giveaways.
Diners at a popular dumpling restaurant in Beijing are leaving with more than a full stomach. They are also leaving with AI tokens.
Customers who finish a meal at Jinguyuan Dumpling Restaurant can collect a 10-yuan (about £1) computing voucher at the counter. The credits can be used for AI services. The unusual promotion has drawn attention online and brought new visitors to the restaurant.
The campaign began in mid-July, just before the start of the hottest period of summer in northern China, when many families traditionally eat dumplings.
A sign on each table reads: “You’ve finished your dumplings. Now collect some tokens and give your AI agent more computing power.”
Dumplings are a staple food in northern China, while tokens are the basic units that large language models use to process text. The promotion brings the two together in an unusual way.
Located near Beijing University of Posts and Telecommunications (BUPT), the restaurant mainly serves students, researchers and technology workers. Many of them already use AI tools in their studies or at work.
From Dumplings to AI Tokens
Staff said the promotion has run for more than 10 days. Its two branches now give away about 100 computing vouchers a day.
Unlike traditional restaurant giveaways, the vouchers can help users pay for AI services. Some customers said they found them more practical than small gifts or souvenirs.
Song Hongbin, a researcher in Beijing, visited the restaurant with colleagues after hearing about the campaign. “We’ve been busy writing research papers recently,” he said. “We came here to relax. The token giveaway sounded interesting.”
Jin, who graduated from BUPT four years ago and now works in AI algorithm development, said she had been eating at the restaurant since university. “The token campaign shows the owner has been paying attention to developments in AI,” she said.
According to the restaurant, the Wudaokou branch has attracted particular interest because many software engineers and technology professionals work nearby.
An Engineer’s AI Experiment
The restaurant’s owner, Li Bo, graduated from BUPT with a degree in communications engineering. Instead of pursuing a career in technology, he opened the dumpling restaurant with a business partner after finishing graduate school.
However, he has remained interested in AI.
Earlier this year, Li built an AI assistant for the restaurant using publicly available development tools. Customers can use it to check queue lengths, receive suggestions on quieter dining times and join the queue remotely.
Li said some people questioned why a dumpling restaurant needed its own AI assistant. “So I thought, why not let customers try AI as well?” he said. “Giving away tokens seemed like a good way to do that.”
The vouchers are provided through a partnership with Watcha.cn, a Chinese AI community and platform. Each voucher is worth 10 yuan in computing credits.
Li said he turned down cooperation offers from several larger technology companies before partnering with the start-up. He liked the idea of giving the computing credits directly to customers.
AI Moves Beyond the Tech Industry
For Li, the token campaign is only one part of a broader experiment.
He believes AI agents could eventually help restaurants handle routine tasks. A customer’s AI assistant could communicate with the restaurant’s own system before they arrive. It could check queue times, recommend dishes or answer questions about opening hours.
For now, those ideas remain at an early stage.
Li said the restaurant’s AI projects have not reduced operating costs or changed the way the business runs. Instead, he sees them as a way to explore how AI might fit into everyday services.
He added that food remains the restaurant’s priority. “Our dumplings are still handmade,” Li said. “Keeping the quality consistent is always the most important thing.”
The restaurant’s location may also explain why the promotion has attracted attention.
Haidian district is home to several leading universities, research institutes and technology companies. Students, programmers and researchers make up a large share of the restaurant’s customers. Many already use AI tools in their daily work. As a result, computing credits are a familiar concept rather than an abstract one.
For many diners, a meal at Jinguyuan now comes with something few restaurants offer: a small amount of computing power alongside a plate of dumplings.
By Ronnie Yu, additional reporting by HKCNA, Beijing Daily.
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