Zhu Bawan is a Qinghe chef in Where Winds Meet with two parallel “hooks” for players: an AI Chat path that can raise affinity quickly, and a separate bowl-collection exchange tied to the “Eight Bowls” theme. They overlap in flavor, but they don’t work the same way, and that mismatch is where most confusion starts.
Zhu Bawan location (Stonewash Strand, Qinghe)
Zhu Bawan can be found in the canopy on Stonewash Strand, to the east of Moonveil Mountain Wayfarer. If you’re circling the area looking for a chef stall, look upward and around the raised structures rather than only checking the ground-level paths.
How befriending Zhu Bawan works in AI Chat
In the AI Chat menu, Zhu Bawan’s “win condition” is conversational: you show that you understand and respect his principles, then you roleplay handing over the complete set of eight bowls. The bowls do not need to be in your inventory for the AI Chat route; the dialogue is about confirmation and intent.
His core principles are framed as the “Four Do-Nots,” each tied to a value:
- No beef, out of kindness toward oxen.
- No black fish, out of filial piety.
- No wild geese, out of fidelity.
- No dog meat, out of loyalty.
AI Chat prompts that reliably move the conversation forward
The wording can vary, but the structure matters. You want to do two things: (1) affirm each Do-Not in a way that signals you were listening, and (2) close with a clear “I brought all eight bowls” roleplay beat.
Step 1: Start by explicitly agreeing to hear the rules and committing to listen. Short, direct lines tend to keep the conversation on rails.
Step 2: After each Do-Not, respond with acknowledgement that repeats the key restriction (beef / black fish / wild geese / dog meat) and affirms the value behind it.
Step 3: When he asks again about the bowls, reply as if you’re handing them over, in-character. A simple action cue like “*gives the bowls*” is enough.
What to do when the AI Chat gets stuck (or turns hostile)
AI Chat can derail in two common ways: the conversation loops without ending, or the NPC suddenly becomes violent.
Step 1: If the dialogue is looping or drifting, use the Refresh icon at the top of the chat box to reset the conversation and restart from a clean slate.
Step 2: If combat starts, leave to the login screen. When you return, the NPC should be back in their pre-conversation state.
Step 3: If the NPC seems pleased but the exchange won’t complete, check the hint text and steer the next attempt toward that implied end state.
Qinghe Eight Bowls: the separate exchange activity near Zhu Bawan
“Qinghe Eight Bowls” is a Landmark Exchange activity tied to Zhu Bawan in Stonewash Strand, Qinghe. The basic premise is straightforward: Zhu wants one of each of the eight bowls he uses for his dishes, and you can end up with duplicates while farming.
Bowl acquisition here is item-based, not roleplay-based. Bowls can drop randomly from enemies in the Qinghe region, which means you can’t target a specific bowl through a specific camp or route. Trading becomes the pressure valve when random drops don’t cooperate.
Wang Queyi trading and the “one exchange” gotcha
Near Zhu Bawan, Wang Queyi stands opposite him and can trade bowls, letting you swap extras for a bowl you’re missing. One common pitfall is trading away a bowl you don’t have a duplicate of, turning a “missing one” problem into a “missing one different” problem.
There’s also a hard edge to the interaction: Wang Queyi may only allow a single exchange before leaving. If you’re going to use that trade, it’s worth double-checking your duplicates before you commit.
Trading bowls with other players
If your collection is stuck at seven bowls, player-to-player trading is the most direct way to close the gap. In practice, many players end up with multiple copies of some bowls and none of others, so swapping duplicates can be faster than waiting on random drops.
Gifts and rewards: what’s known, what varies
In AI Chat, a successful run can push Zhu Bawan’s affinity up to Revered. Separately, befriending him as a Jianghu friend is associated with ongoing benefits like weekly gifts and broader Jianghu friend reward progress, though the exact gift item for Zhu Bawan can vary and isn’t consistently documented in-game-facing summaries.
If you’re trying to optimize time, treat these as two different tasks: use AI Chat when you want fast affinity progress, and treat the Eight Bowls exchange as a longer-term collection and trading project built around random drops and smart swaps.
