Fit for an emperor
By Ye Jun ( Beijing Weekend)
Updated: 2004-02-27 14:29

"Landscape" cold fish

Great food is one of the things people most like about Beijing.

But have you ever wondered how Chinese emperors ate in this ancient capital city?

There's an easy - if slightly expensive - way to find out. Fangshan Restaurant is found within Beihai Park, one of the most important imperial gardens of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911).

"Careful selection of ingredients, elaborate preparation and exquisite decoration are key components of imperial cuisine," said Wang Tao, the restaurant's manager. "The food should be very nourishing and the taste tends to be relatively light."

Founded in the park in 1925, the restaurant was the first imperial style restaurant established in Beijing. The name  "fang shan" actually means food following the style used for the imperial family.

One of the features the restaurant is famous for is  "Man Han Quan Xi" (the complete Manchu and Han nationality food), a banquet served on the most important occasions.

A creative prawn dish

A look at the full menu of this famous banquet gives you an idea of the sheer variety of dishes available to Chinese emperors and empresses.

It includes six banquets, each comprising up to 36 dishes. It takes three days to finish them all.

The restaurant, though, has designed different set dishes at different price levels ranging from 150 to 500 yuan (US$18-60) per person. The menu lists under each set meal up to 14 helpings of food consisting of appetizer, soup, meat and vegetable dishes, cakes and fruit.

It's also possible to order separate dishes, according to the manager.

The venue of the restaurant is decorated with dragon and phoenix patterns and in bright yellow, a colour used only by the emperor in the Qing Dynasty.

Waitresses wearing traditional Manchu costumes serve the food in the traditional way.

Dimsum

Some of the dishes are arranged in unique shapes you won't see elsewhere. The cold pork and beef dish, for example, is arranged in the shape of a Chinese landscape painting. A stewed prawn dish is called peach flower and swallow-tail prawn, getting the name from its beautiful appearance.

The menu features lots of seafood and vegetable. Traditional Beijing cakes and pastries at the restaurant can certainly be recommended.

The menu is in Chinese and English. Some waitresses speak English and Japanese.
Opening hours: lunch is served from 11:30 am - 1:30 pm, dinner starts at 5:30 pm.

Location: Yilantang, Beihai Park, No 1 Wenjinjie, Xicheng District.

Tel: 6401-1889

Imperial eats

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Beijing Palace (Beijing Gongzhengwei Dajiulou) Classic antique furniture. Location: 130 Chaoneidajie, Chaoyang District 朝 Tel: 6523-6320 Opening hours: 11 am-2 pm, 5:30 pm- 9:30 pm

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Royal Food Restaurant (Meiweizhen) Location: L124, SB 1/F West Wing of China World Trade Centre Opening hours: 11 am-10 pm

Royal Palace (Huangchenshifu) Location 1: Changpuhe Park, East Chang'an Avenue Tel: 8511-5365 Location 2: Second floor of Hualian Shangsha, Anzhen Xili, Xicheng District Tel: 6443-6880 ext 5246