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Extravagant banquet debuts in N. China city, arousing dispute
www.chinanews.cn 2005-08-14 15:11:23
(Sourec: Xinhuanet)
A luxurious traditional Chinese feast, Man Han Quan Xi, debuts in a hotel
of Shenyang, northeast China's Liaoning Province.
Aug. 14 - Many people watch with utter amazement a show of a luxurious
traditional Chinese feast that was more heard than seen across the
country for several decades, but many audience said the banquet was
prodigal.
"Goodness, I never knew people could make such an exquisite feast," said
Mr. Zou, a middle-aged civil servant with the government of northeast
China's Liaoning Province.
What surprised him most was the Man Han Quan Xi, or Feast of Complete
Manchu Han Course, China's so-called No. 1 feast which is on show for the
public at an international food festival held in a hotel of Shenyang,
capital of Liaoning.
About 30 senior chefs along with many assistants spent three days on
making a total of 196 different kinds of dishes, according to Liu Fuguo,
manager of the food and beverage department of the Qing (dynasty) Culture
Hotel.
The feast, a supreme royal feast which debuted some 300 years ago in the
Qing Dynasty, used various Chinese ingredients and cooking techniques
with a total cost of over 200,000 yuan (around 24,600 US dollars).
"I believe I am a gourmand of a food connoisseur, but in the past 40
years of my life, I had never seen or tasted such a banquet... It's
magic, " said Zou.
It is said that at the beginning of the Qing Dynasty (1644-1911), the new
conqueror, Manchu, had a different taste in food. To satisfy Han Chinese
and the Manchu, the banquets were divided into two forms -- the Han
banquet and the Manchu banquet.
As time went on, the customs and cultures of the Manchu and Han gradually
blended in the middle period of the Qing Dynasty.
More than 80 performers dressed in Qing costumes, along with an
extravagant "dragon chair" -- or the chair for Chinese emperor -- and a
set of delicate table wares, both of which were specially produced for
the feast, now helped represent the scenes of a grand banquet in the
palace to ordinary people nowadays.
However, many of the 200-odd visitors to the festival said it was too
wasteful to make such a feast, stating that the cost almost equals to the
yearly income of 30 local farmers.
All the costly dish will have to be dumped after the three-day festival
closes on Saturday.
Actually, some of the dish, including a 5,900-yuan one cooked with the
expansive abalone, are turning sour in the hot summer after being
displayed for three days.
Li Xuming, board chairman of the hotel, claimed that it was the first
time that the rarely seen feast was completely served at an exhibition in
accordance with the formal imperial ritual.
The banquet was prepared to highlight China's food culture and offer a
vivid imperial environment to the public, Li said.
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