On the afternoon of September 19th, Yunhai Yào’s official Weibo account announced the passing of Zhao Han due to a sudden heart attack at the age of just 40. The announcement pointed out that in the context of a flawed economic model, neither the restaurant industry nor consumers emerged as winners.
The statement mentioned that Zhao Han, co-founder of the renowned Yunnan cuisine brand “Yunhai Yào”, suffered a sudden heart attack and passed away on September 18th, 2025, at 14:43 in Kunming Tongren Hospital at the young age of 40.
Another co-founder and current CEO of the company, Zhu Haiqin, expressed in her circle of friends: “The incident happened so suddenly, thank you all for your concern. We are deeply saddened… I will carry on with Zhao Han’s commitment and strive to excel in Yunhai Yào.”
Born in Yunnan in July 1985, Zhao Han, still a postgraduate student at Peking University in 2009, co-founded “Yunhai Yào” Yunnan restaurant with his cousin Lu Zhitao, friend Zhu Haiqin, and Hu Fengyang at Yinding Bridge at Shichahai, Beijing.
Subsequently, Zhao Han led the team to establish three Yunnan cuisine chain brands – “Yunhai Yào Hot Pot Chicken”, “Dao Xiaoman Half Chicken Cross Bridge Rice Noodles”, and “Lick the Tip of the Nose”, expanding the reach of Yunnan cuisine nationwide.
According to Zhaomen Canyan data, as of July 2025, Yunhai Yào had 143 directly operated stores in 29 cities across China, with 96.5% of them located inside shopping malls.
21jingji.com reported that in 2019, “Yunhai Yào” began expanding into overseas markets in Singapore. By July 2025, the brand had opened five stores in Singapore.
According to Tianyancha, Zhao Han resigned in December 2024, with the executive director position taken over by another co-founder, Zhu Haiqin. Zhao Han had been immersed in the catering industry for sixteen years.
Previously, Zhao Han publicly mentioned the significant pressure in the catering industry, noting a drastic drop in store revenue to zero during the epidemic period, leading to a substantial cash flow gap.
In recent years, a large number of young patients have been diagnosed with non-atherosclerotic myocardial infarction. Zhang Yi, Director of the Cardiology Centre at Shanghai Tenth People’s Hospital, highlighted to First Financial that many young patients seeking medical assistance for heart conditions have no family history of heart disease. The main reasons for the increasing trend of cardiovascular diseases targeting the younger population are attributed to the dual impact of mental stress and metabolic abnormalities.
According to statistics from the Chinese National Cardiovascular Center, the country witnesses up to 550,000 cases of sudden cardiac death annually, with an average of 1,500 people dying from cardiac arrest each day. Every minute, one person collapses due to sudden cardiac arrest, with 87% of these incidents happening outside hospitals.
Relevant research data shows that the risk levels for acute myocardial infarction in the population due to psychological stress are 36% and 15%, respectively.
An analysis provided by netizen “Lizong-Jiazi Research Institute” on X platform suggested that based on Zhao Han’s birth chart, his sudden death was not congenital or a long-term provoked cause but purely due to an abrupt emotional attack, likely stemming from severe debt leverage.
The institute further expressed that post-pandemic, the catering and consumer industries have been on the decline. Whether it’s Yunhai Yào, Xi Bei, or even the recently deceased gourmet Cai Lan, they all represent a “decline” in the industry.
According to Wang Haibin’s financial discussion on X platform, Zhao Han lamented in his circle of friends before his passing that almost no one in the catering industry could make money, except for small family-run businesses earning a modest income. He stated that China’s flawed economic model leaves both the catering industry and consumers as losers.
Several X accounts speculated that Zhao Han’s death might be related to receiving the COVID-19 vaccine. Netizen Joey Jia commented on X platform, “One of the post-COVID sequelae is the exponential increase in heart-related deaths.”