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Nothing rivals a traditional Chinese banquet for opulence

Imperial feasts in the 18th century would last several days – and it was considered the height of bad manners not to gorge on the variety of meat and fish on offer

6 July 2024

9:00 AM

6 July 2024

9:00 AM

China in Seven Banquets: A Flavourful History Thomas David DuBois

Reaktion, pp.296, 18

In February 1985 I had the good fortune to be a guest in Hong Kong at the Mandarin hotel’s 21st birthday celebration, a lavish three-day reconstruction of the sort of imperial banquet given during the Qing dynasty by the Kangxi emperor (1654-1722) and his grandson the Qianlong emperor (1711-1799). Kangxi started the custom of banqueting during his tours of southern China – he made six between 1684 and 1707.

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