One of the places to experience the refinement of an emperor's life is in Tingliguan, one of the major structures in the Summer Palace.

Facing Kunming Lake, Tingliguan was built in 1750 by Emperor Qianlong. Torched by the Anglo-French Allied Forces in 1860, it was rebuilt by Emperor Guangxu around 1900 to become a favoured place for Empress Dowager Ci Xi to dine. The name means Hall for Listening to Orioles ...meaning that the melodies of the concerts and operas was likened to the beautiful sounds of the orioles. Tingliguan is now a famous restaurant offering Imperial food to it's patrons, such as, Imperial Court Cuisine and Imperial Longevity Cuisine.

Walking up the shaded steps, you will encounter a screen against the gate on which some characters are inscribed. On the other side of the screen, you will find a big courtyard. A large dramatic stage in the middle of the courtyard will catch your attention. This is a platform where imperial family members enjoyed operas and concerts; while they sometimes joined in on the performance. It is even believed, Emperor Qianlong and Ci Xi both performed on this stage. The main hall is located to its north, a banquet scene for numerous domestic and overseas officials and leaders, who dined on traditional imperial cuisines. The painted wooden furniture and pillars, red palace lanterns, along with swallows on the roofs of the houses make for a perfect backdrop to momentarily linger to enjoy the surroundings.

Adding to the quaint houses in the courtyard, the Tingliguan Restaurant’s fine Imperial cuisine now becomes the main attraction of your visit..


At Ci Xi’s imperial kitchen, many of her favourite snacks, such as live fish from Kunming Lake, lotus seeds in syrup, prawn rolls with fried bread, along with related stories have been left for Tingliguan. Almost every dish has an interesting story: for instance, Hongniangzipei (the woman matches a husband by herself) is a well-known and interesting dish; which happens to originate from a story. Under the Qing rulers palace maids were dismissed to their own homes before they reached 25 years of age. There was a palace maid named Liang Hongping, who was favored by Ci Xi so much that she was reluctant to let the maid go. The situation worried the girl’s uncle, an Imperial chef, fearing she might become too old to marry if there was a delay. One day, this chef made a dish named Hongniangzipei to remind Ci Xi of the situation and the girl was finally allowed to leave …and the story has been told many times since.

The restaurant has a team of technical officers and skilled chefs that numbers almost a hundred. Considered an upscale restaurant, many powerful and famous people have dined here, but Tingliguan restaurant is not exclusive to the upper-class as many ordinary people are frequent customers.