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Shichahai Quanjude A Taste of the Real Beijing

Among the must-do things every visitor to Beijing should try to get around to, one is to stroll the Shichahai area with its beautiful scenery and the quaint bars, and the other is to savour Quanjude roast duck. Now, with the opening of a new Quanjude outlet in Shichahai area, visitors can do both.

Essential to anyone’s dining experience in Beijing, Peking roast duck (Beijing kaoya) is a delicious, rich and lightly smoked, and it is usually served with pancakes, dipping sauce, vegetable fillings and irresistible slivers of juicy duck meat and fat and crispy skin. Said to originate in the Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region, Peking roast duck was first served in a Beijing restaurant in 1855. The original recipe includes a description of how to build and fire an oven for smoking the bird.

When people speak of Peking roast duck, Quanjude is usually the first restaurant that comes to mind for millions of diners. From the Taklamakan sands in Xinjiang to the lofty Tibetan plateau, this brand has it covered. There're even Quanjude branches in the United States and Japan. Chairman Mao, George H.W. Bush, Fidel Castro and Yasser Arafat have eaten in Quanjude's flagship Qianmen restaurant. So what is it that makes this traditional brand so special?

Established in 1864, during the Qing Dynasty, Quanjude was the word's first restaurant to serve roast duck outside the emperor's personal kitchen. In those days, the common man could not eat palace dishes. Legend has it that Yang Renquan, the first Quanjude manager, poached a retired chef from the palace, fiddled with the recipe slightly and served roast duck to the eager masses from his small restaurant in Yangrou Hutong, just off Qianmen Dajie.

Quanjude Roast Duck is apparently unlike any other kind of Beijing roast duck. After basting in a secret concoction of sweetened sauces, the ducks are roasted in a "hanging-fruit-tree" oven for up to 50 minutes. They come out looking golden brown and juicy. A chef will then delicately slice it up for you by your table, making sure each piece includes at least a sliver of the duck's crispy skin. The Chinese consider this the finest part of the duck. And even for the western palate, it does somehow manage to strike a divine balance between succulence and crunchiness.

With Quanjude’s more-than-100-year history, Shichahai is the ideal location for the brand to open its latest branch. Shichahai is an area immersed in the traditions and culture of Beijing, with Beihai Park, Jingshan Mountain and Forbidden City to its south, and The Mansion of Prince Gong to its north. From well-preserved courtyards to winding hutong, from the prosperous Lotus Market to the crowded Yandai Xiejie, from historic residents of famous people to ordinary families leading a quiet life, the place takes on a natural cultural atmosphere matching that of the ancient capital city.

The opening of Quanjude in this historic and cultural Shichahai adds another attraction to this already famous area. Located on the Lotus Market bar street, it’s easy to find the restaurant’s huge torii just off Ping’an Dajie, nearby to the west of the Lotus Market pailou (archway). With an area of 2,500 square metres, the branch is properly but not extravagantly decorated. The 1,000-square-metre hall, surrounded by a clear pool, includes a large stage, seldom seen in other restaurants, on which beauties dressed in traditional Chinese clothes will dance to traditional Chinese musical instruments during dinner time. The dances and music will make a guest feel like they’re travelling back in time: great fun and memories of a fantastic dining experience. 

Like other branches of Quanjude, roast duck is certainly not the only thing on the menu. There's a duck dish for every occasion; tongues, livers, skin, gizzards, breasts, and, of course, the appetizing duck-feet webs, which are actually a lot better than the minimalist chicken feet so favoured by many Chinese. And true to form, Quanjude has an exotic variety of non-duck dishes that characterize extravagant Chinese restaurants. Camel and deer meat are served up with turtles, seafood and a huge variety of fish. All the dishes are lovingly presented in a most palatial and magnificent of settings.

People who have been to Shichahai understand how hard it is to park in the area, but diners in Shichahai Quanjude will not be bothered with the problem as the restaurant has a parking lot with the capacity of more than 200 cars. There are 20 VIP rooms on both floors of the restaurant, each with its own style and various capacities, therefore meeting various needs of distinguished guests.

Before Quanjude opened its branch in this area, visitors to Shichahai had few choices for dining, as the place is packed with western-styled restaurants. Now, after rowing boats on the Houhai Lake and enjoying the sights of courtyards and hutong, come to Shichahai Quanjude and complete your cultural experience.