Many of the parks in Beijing have been here
for centuries. Beihai is the largest and most well known
in the city. The lush Royal Gardens are said to be more
than 800 years old and have been maintained through the rule of four Chinese dynasties. Deep inside, Beihai Park is an even greater
find, a restaurant specializing in cuisine favored by the families who first ruled
China. Fangshan is a grandiose restaurant adorned
with ornate gold trappings and a waitstaff that's emblazoned with emperors attire. Walking into Fangshan restaurant is awe
inspiring. You enter private dining rooms by walking
through an interconnected series of royal courtyards. The imperial presence in Beijing
cultivated elaborate and exotic foods and the cuisine of the Ming and Qing dynasties of
some 600 years ago are the basis for much of the Chinese food served today. Imperial Dining is considered a rare and
indulgent experience. I've invited four students from Beijing
University majoring in history and English to experience this dinner with me. Ni hao. Hao. How are you doing? Obviously, this is a
special occasion for everyone, right? Yeah. The first time to eat in such a fabulous a
royal place. I'm from Shenyang. You know Confucius. Yeah, sure. Yeah. Hometown of Confucius. Confucius is. Hometown is famous. And also it is famous for the food here. Unusual ingredients and elaborate
presentation are the key components of imperial cuisine. These dishes are often regarded as the best
examples of authentic Chinese food. Imperial food is most often eaten banquet
style, and you order from preset menus of eight, ten, 12, even 36 course dinners. I think this might be the largest lazy Susan
I've ever eaten at an expensive staple at Chinese banquets. Shark's fin is a
relatively bland dish that's seen a resurgence in popularity lately. The shark's fin itself has a vaguely musty
seafood smell and a fibrous texture. Not everybody's cup of tea. While it's considered controversial to eat
the fin of the shark, in some countries, it's still served throughout China. Oh, the shark's fin is very gelatinous. But this is really good shark's fin because
you can actually taste the dried, salty goodness. A lot of times shark's fin is
rehydrated and all the flavor is cooked out of it. This is some good shark's fin. Oh, my God. Sea cucumber is another Chinese delicacy. The ugly sea creature is found on the ocean
floor, and it's firm and slippery even after it's cooked. Typically, it's braised and
served alongside mushrooms, leafy greens or poultry feet. That's. That's a good sea cucumber. A very soft. It's very mild. I've had some big, nasty sea cucumbers in my
day. Seriously. Next, a royal food that I've
always wanted to try. Camel paw. But it's not as recognizable as you might
think. I'm just going to go out here on a limb and
say that this is Camel. It's not a camera. We have no. Sure that's Camel touch down. Camel Paw is definitely an acquired taste. It has a unique jelly texture, funky smell
and gamey flavor. It's served, braised and sliced, and the
little bones and cartilage are removed from the meat. So it's one beautiful, gelatinous
bite. Dude, that's strange. It's like gelatin. Well, it's salty. It's got a lot of good soy
sauce on it. It's salty, It's funky. It's like that's like chewy camel jelly. Every once in a while, I confront a food
that is crazy even for me. And I think that might be it. I mean, braised camel paw, that's as strange
as food gets. Yes. Yeah, that stuff is funky. Camel ball is kind of very strange. Yeah. Taste very sweet. Thank you. Finally, somebody they say up to
2000 employees would be involved in food preparation and serving of imperial meals
for former dynasty rulers, this 21st century version is no less grand. Cheers. Thank you so much. This was wonderful. A great way to cap off a fabulous day in
Beijing. Cheers. China's political history has shaped
this country's climate for perseverance and change, from the arts to the economy. The People's Republic of China has seen a
surge in nationalism and a commitment to restoring its position as a world leader. While progress is on the collective mind
when it comes to food, many locals go for what's familiar. There's still some old fashioned restaurants
that cater to what natives call old Beijing style cooking in many ways. Fujia Lu reminds me of the Chinese
restaurants I visited growing up in New York City. There's the classic gold decor, a busy
scene and a lot of to go orders. I'm one of the appeals of the food here,
both to old and young, is that it's all snack food, smaller portions, simple plates, the
type of food that can be eaten in between meals, which always gets me excited. I ordered a bevy of dishes from pig stomach
to the house, special tofu dish for people that think a Chinese meal is all based on
stir fry dishes. You may notice that there's not a single
stir fry dish here on the table. This is a poached tofu with something
unusual for this culture. Tomato sauce. Tomatoes are becoming increasingly popular
today, especially in southern China. That's amazing. The difference between
Beancurd over here and Beancurd back home is night and day. Almost every restaurant here
is going to either make it themselves or get it from a vendor who does nothing every
morning but make fresh beancurd. This is only a few hours old. It's just silky and smooth with a lot of
tofu flavor. Wow, that's nice. Most people don't associate Chinese food
with lamb, but it's fairly common fare in the northeastern part of the country. I'm almost going to say that this is more of
a mutton. It's a little old. It's a little gamey. There's definitely a taste like lamb. I'll tell you, oftentimes in the West,
they're butchering lamb earlier and earlier and earlier to have the taste of the flesh
be as mild as possible. Not greasy. Not gamey. There's something pretty refreshing about
tasting real lamb. The inside and outside of the pig's stomach
lining is braised and served with a middle Eastern influenced sesame sauce called
Tahina. Many Middle Eastern foods came to China
along the northern spice route. Wow. If I fed this to you with your eyes
closed, you'd swear it was cold noodles with peanut sauce. That dish may look
frightening, but the taste is absolutely fantastic. Wow. Good sauce. Pig's ear is always an
interesting appetizer. I've had pig's ear cold and diced, but this
is sliced very thin, roasted, chilled and served with soy sauce and vinegar. That's clean. It's fresh tasting, porky. It's got that nice little edge of skin. And you can see when you hold it up to the
light, all the different pieces of meat and cartilage and chewy goodness that's in
there. Tremendous flavor. Doji is the liquefied version of Stinky
Tofu. It's essentially the byproduct from mung
bean paste that's been fermented for months. Let's see what happens here. Oh, my God. This is disgusting. Oh, it smells like sauerkraut soup, which I
find very appealing because my ancestry is German. But when you taste it, it has the
flavor of rotted vegetables. Thousands of years ago, this soup was very
popular, and it was for a long time until people found there were other foods in the
world. Food Charlotte is an adventure. Tastes have evolved, but plenty of Chinese
still crave the mixed creations and flavors of old Beijing.
