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Imperial Cuisine for Everyone: The Ting Liguan Restaurant

The details of the cloistered lives of China’s feudal emperors were little known to ordinary people, but what they knew as fact or rumour about court life, of maids of honour, extravagant palace decorations, delicate music and delicious foods could only have stoked resentment, perhaps envy in some quarters or anger in others.

The lives of the privileged were distant from that of the common folk, and with the collapse of the imperial system it drifted even further away.

Now, in this modern time, some of the enjoyments reserved exclusively for the emperors are available to ordinary, hard-working people. One of the places to experience the refinement of an emperor's life is in Tingliguan, a bamboo-surrounded courtyard in the Summer Palace.

Tingliguan is one of the 13 major structures in the Summer Palace. It is located at the southern side of Wanshou (Longevity) Hill and faces Kunming Lake. Tingliguan was built in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong (1711–99) for his mother's birthday. It was torched by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860, and was rebuilt by Emperor Guangxu (1871–1908) to become a favoured place of recreation for Empress Dowager Ci Xi (1835–1908). The name, Tingliguan was given then. From the literal meaning of the characters, it means Hall for Listening to Orioles. This means that the melodies of the concerts and operas was likened to the beautiful sounds of the orioles, hence the name Tingliguan. On a plate over the gate of the main hall of the courtyard, visitors can still view the characters written by Ci Xi today, because the 6,000-square-metre Tingliguan is now a famed restaurant that offers imperial food in Beijing, such as the Royal Feast of Complete Manchu–Han Courses, Imperial Court Cuisine, Imperial Longevity Cuisine, and Imperial Tonic Medicated Diets.

Walking up the magnolia- and Chinese flowering-crab-apple-shaded steps, you will encounter a screen against the gate on which the characters Manyuan Jinxiu (Garden full of Beautiful Scenery) are inscribed. This might provoke you to recall the history the Tingliguan. On the other side of the screen, you will find a big courtyard. A large dramatic stage in the middle of the courtyard will catch your attention. This is a platform where imperial family members enjoyed operas and concerts; sometimes, they even performed themselves. According to Feng Fuqiang, the vice-general manager of the Tingliguan Restaurant, Emperor Qianlong and Ci Xi both performed on this stage. The main hall is located to its north, a banquet scene for numerous domestic and overseas officials and leaders, who dined on traditional imperial cuisines. The wing houses are all connected by long corridors. The painted wood pillars, elegant red palace lanterns, quaint hardwood furniture, murmuring swallows on the roofs of the houses and even the structure’s creaky doors arouse your desire to linger for a while and to soak in the surroundings. Then a maid-of-honour-liked waitress may come and serve you a cup of tea with a delicate fragrance, which can provoke self-reflection.

In addition to the quaint houses in the courtyard and the numerous antique paintings within, the Tingliguan Restaurant’s food becomes part of the experience.

When mentioning the Royal Feast of Complete Manchu–Han Courses, most people will recall the Tingliguan Restaurant. Here the guests can taste the genuine and orthodox 108 courses of the Royal Feast of Complete Manchu–Han Courses. The imperial family always strived for a long life and Ci Xi was no exception; she turned to Imperial Longevity Cuisine and Imperial Tonic Medicated Diets to try to maintain her health. Based on the real cuisines employed by the imperial kitchen, all kinds of cuisine have been inherited by the Tingliguan Restaurant, including the Wanshouwujiang (long life with no end) feast for birthdays, the Fulushouxi (happiness, wealth, long life and good luck) feast for officials in their careers, Yannianyishou (prolong life) feast for the elderly, Jiqingyouyu (luck and celebration) feast for friends, Jiangshanwandai (infinite continuation of the imperial power) feast for the white collars and the Putiantongqing (nationwide celebrations) feast for families.

As Ci Xi’s imperial kitchen, many of her favourite snacks, such as live fish from Kunming Lake, prawn rolls with fried bread, lotus seeds in syrup, and associated stories have been left for Tingliguan. Almost every dish has an interesting story: for instance, Hongniangzipei (the woman matches a husband by herself) is a well-known and interesting dish; its name came from a story. Under the Qing rulers palace maids should be dismissed to their own homes before they were 25 years old. There was a palace maid named Liang Hongping, who was favoured by Ci Xi so much that Ci Xi was reluctant to let her go. The situation was a great worry of the girl’s uncle, an imperial chef, because he feared she might become too old to marry if there was a delay. One day, the chef made a dish named Hongniangzipei to remind Ci Xi. Finally, the girl was allowed to leave, and the story and the wisdom of the chef was told again and again.

The Tingliguan Restaurant has a group of skilled gourmet chefs and cooks and all of these are backed by the legacy of imperial chefs such as Tang Keming, an imperial chef of the China’s last emperor, Aisin Gioro Puyi (1906–67). Tang was employed by the Tingliguan Restaurant to train the staff after the collapse of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911). The Tingliguan Restaurant now employs 20 senior technical officers and 60 special class cooks and provides special grade customer services.

Following its fame, the Tingliguan Restaurant has entertained a lot of top leaders from the worlds of politics and business, including delegations of Anyway (China) Company Limited, TCL Company Limited, the 36th FIPP World Magazine Congress and the 2008 Olympic Sponsors Conference. As a high-class restaurant, Tingliguan Restaurant is not exclusive to the upper-class or large-scale delegations; the ordinary people are also welcome, and many turn to the Tingliguan to book feasts for birthday parties and wedding ceremonies. Even walk-ins and individuals are welcome.