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Tongchunyuan Restaurant: Fine Dining Jiangsu Style

The Tongchuanyuan Restaurant is not easily found, although it is located on Xinjiekouwai Dajie, a relatively busy street in Beijing’s Xicheng District, just opposite Beijing Normal University. It resides in the Shiyue Building in a deep courtyard, almost completely hidden by other buildings, and the first thing that gives it away is its name board.

Still, the restaurant’s regular clientele have worn a beaten path to it, because of its fine food and good flavour.

Tongchunyuan was established in 1930 in the Xidan business area, but the area was renovated in 2000, and Tongchunyuan moved to Xinjiekouwai Dajie. The location change from a busy street to a discrete nook might have been a blow to the business of a less highly regarded restaurant, but Tongchunyuan didn’t miss a beat. Instead, it became a comprehensive hotel that can serve conferences, press meetings and provide accommodations, catering and entertainment.

Yet, credit for Tongchunyuan’s

development mostly falls to its loyal customers.

The lobby of Tongchunyuan is lit by three crystal chandeliers. On the first floor, there are four dinning rooms that cover more than 430 square metres. In line with its Jiangsu cuisine, the dining rooms are decorated in the South China style, such as the gray-tiled, red-pillared pavilion and classical windows and screens. Dining in these rooms, guests can sense the life in a South China's courtyard; their elegant screens recall wealth-calling boys, fairies, and the God of Wealth.

During the Republican Period of China (1912–49), Beijing’s catering industry boomed for some time. There were eight famous restaurants on Chang’an Jie, and they all had the Chinese character “chun” (spring) in their names. People called them the “eight spring restaurants” (ba da chun). Tongchunyuan was one of them. But at first, Tongchunyuan’s business was not so good, especially when it lost some of its fine chefs. It once was on the verge of bankruptcy. The manager invited Wang Shichen, a chef of Prince Qing of the Qing Dynasty (1644–1911), to be the restaurant’s major chef. Since Wang was good at Jiangsu cuisine, it became Tongchunyuan’s staple offering. In the Shandong cuisine-dominated Beijing, Jiangsu cuisine brought a new flavour to the customers. Because of its high quality and excellent ingredients, this restaurant edged to the top of the “eight spring restaurants.” After the establishment of the People’s Republic of China, seven of the eight spring restaurants closed; only Tongchunyuan survived to see a new day.

One important reason for Tongchuanyuan's survival was its food. Tongchunyuan’s chefs are good at making “river” food. Their braising, stewing, roasting, broiling and steaming skills are plied by expert chefs. Songshu guiyu (squirrel-shaped mandarin fish), for instance, is one of the most successful dishes of Tongchunyuan. It’s a must-order dish for most customers, because of its unique taste. The mandarin fish is salted for some time and then wrapped with starch. The salted fish is then put in oil for frying three times; hence, the fish will be fragile outside but fresh inside. Pour on the soy sauce, and the colourful and sweet songshu guiyu is complete.

Xiangyou shanhu (stir-fried finless eel with hot oil) is another specialty of Tongchunyuan. The eel is boiled and then cooled. The boiled eel then is cut into strips with a bamboo knife. These strips are dipped into the ginger strips, yellow wine, vinegar and caraway, then joined with bamboo-shoot strips for frying. The result is fragile and a little spicy.

Tongchunyuan’s service has been enlarged from simple feasts to include wedding banquets, birthday parties and foreign-related entertainment. Most of the waiters at Tongchunyuan can provide English service for their foreign guests and simple sign language for the deaf.

But there’s far more to dine on at Tongchunyuan than the sweet Jiangsu cuisine. “To complement our unique Jiangsu flavour, we have introduced some chefs from Sichuan, Shandong and Guangdong provinces. All the tastes of our customers can be met now,” said head chef Wang Hongqing. “The long history of Tongchunyuan leaves us some traditional skills and advantages; we also should explore more new foods for the development of this restaurant.”

To meet the diet concepts of modern people, focusing on healthiness and reduced fat consumption, Tongchunyuan changed their cooking methods in some ways. As with the huangshan menrou (stewed finless eel with meat), some carrots are used in the cooking to sop more fat than in previous versions of the fare.

“I think this is an innovation. Not every innovation can change the old completely,” said Wang. “The development of Tongchunyuan relies on returned customers; they come here mostly because of the original flavours of Tongchuanyuan. We should keep the old style for them if and when we can.”

Wang clearly understands this principle: the restaurant’s specialties are fundamental to its success; they will be retained as they have been for nearly 80 years.

Address: A No. 14 Xinjiekouwai Dajie, Xicheng District, Beijing 100088

北京市西城区新街口外大街甲14号

Tel: +86 10 6235 3288

Fax: +86 10 6235 3300