The Chinese cuisines found in Beijing are mostly imperial and various regional cuisines. Indeed, imperial cuisine represents a blend of regional cuisines, because emperors wanted the best foods the empire had to offer to the Forbidden City.

Founded in 1925 by several former imperial chefs, following the fall of the Qing Dynasty (1644¨C1911) and its last emperor's (Pu Yi's) departure from the Forbidden City, the Fangshan Restaurant in Central Beijing's Beihai Park is the very best place to savour authentic Chinese imperial cuisine.

"Fangshan" in Chinese means "imitating imperial cuisine," but there is nothing imitation about the foods offered in this time honoured restaurant. With the overthrow of the feudal society, the chefs in the palace were relieved of duty. Several of them decided to open the Fangshan Restaurant to market their skills. After the People's Republic was founded, the late Premier Zhou Enlai felt strongly that imperial cuisine should be preserved. With his help, in 1955, Fangshan moved from north end of Beihai Park to Qionghua Island on Taiye Pool near Beihai's South and East Gates, where it settled in an ancient structure adjacent to the long corridor surrounding Qiong Hua Island. The restaurant can be found at the northern base of the highest point in the park near the White Dagoba (Baita). The ancient structure housing the restaurant has been well-maintained since its establishment during the reign of Emperor Qianlong (1736¨C96), where annually on the fifth day of the seventh month on the lunar calendar, emperors and their wives and concubines came to view candlelit lanterns on Taiye Pool.

To ensure imperial cuisine's survival, Premier Zhou assisted a nationwide search for all the chefs who had ever worked in the imperial palace. Key personnel at Fangshan Restaurant today represent the third generation of descendants of these chefs. In addition, research has been conducted at the Palace Museum to get more information about imperial cuisine. Pu Jie, the younger brother of Pu Yi was many times invited to taste the imperial cuisine cooked at Fangshan to test its authenticity. Improvements concerning every thing from the appearance to the tastes of dishes have been made on his suggestions.

Imperial cuisine peaked during the Qing Dynasty, when it was symbolized by the "Man-Han" banquet. Composed of 108 dishes, it is a mix of the elite foods preferred by the Manchu and Han peoples. Hence, it is regarded as a quintessential Chinese cuisine, and it is what makes Fangshan a unique place in China to dine, where an authentic Man-Han banquet can be enjoyed. To make it easy for diners to savour the fare, the 108 dishes of Man-Han are now divided into six sets, with each set priced at 1,680 yuan (US$210) per person, representing one part of the old imperial cuisine.

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