Wu Zhaonan

Wu Zhaonan (; 14 January 1926 – 14 October 2018) was a Chinese xiangsheng comedian based in Taiwan. He was officially recognized by the government of Taiwan as a "national treasure". He was the recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award from the Lincoln Center and the Golden Melody Award for Lifetime Contributions. Before becoming a comedian, he ran a food stall in Taipei where he created and popularized the dish Mongolian barbecue.

Creation of Mongolian barbecue Wu created the popular dish Mongolian barbecue before he became a comedian.

Wu was born in Beijing, Republic of China, on 14 January 1926. He graduated from the with a degree in economics.

He fled to Taiwan when the Communist Party took over mainland China in 1949, and opened a street food stall in , Taipei in 1951, where he created the popular dish Mongolian barbecue.

Wu's food stall became very popular, and even attracted foreign diplomats and wealthy businesspeople as customers despite being a cheap eatery. However, it was later destroyed by flooding during a typhoon, in which Wu nearly drowned. Lang Tzu-yun founded the performing arts troupe Spring Sun, for which Wu has written.

Wu received many awards including the Lifetime Artistic Achievement Award from the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts in New York City, the Xinchuan Award of Taiwan and the Outstanding Artist of Asia Award. which was followed by an honor bestowed at the first Taipei City Master of Traditional Arts Awards ceremony in 2010. The government of Taiwan formally named him a "living national treasure" in 2011.

Personal life He was married until his wife's death in 2009. They had one son, Wu Manyu.

On 14 October 2018, Wu Zhaonan died from multiple organ failure in Los Angeles, California, aged 92.