Yechun Teahouse's historic legacy

Almost every Chinese knows about man-han quanxi, literally the complete feast of Manchu and Han courses, which dates back to early Qing Dynasty (1644-1911). But few know that Manchu-Han Imperial Feast is related to Yechun Teahouse.

Yechun Teahouse began in the Hongqiao area of Yangzhou, Jiangsu province, as the private garden of Qing Dynasty poet Wang Shizhen (1634-1711), and later rose to fame as a place for intellectuals to gather, and enjoy poetry and painting.

When Kangxi (1654-1722) and Qianlong (1711-1799), the most powerful and reputed emperors of the Qing Dynasty, visited the Jiangnan (regions to the south of the lower reaches of the Yangtze River) areas, they would eat dim sum and enjoy tea at Yechun Teahouse.

These Manchu leaders, who had conquered the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644) governed by Han Chinese, promoted the union of the two cultures to effectively rule China. They were especially eager to embrace the country's elite scholar class, and one way they did that was to establish the tradition of the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast.

One of the first recorded feasts was at Fengshi Cenglou (where Yechun Teahouse was located at the time) in Yangzhou during the reign of Emperor Qianlong, according to a book written by the poet Li Dou (1749-1817).

The emperor bestowed responsibility for the Manchu-Han Imperial Feast to officials in the area, according to Chen Jun, general manager of the Yangzhou Hotel, which is Yechun Teahouse's parent company.

Since then, the teahouse has moved around in Yangzhou because of wars and other turbulence in history, but it retained its fame for its dim sum, especially stuffed steam buns.

Yechun Teahouse became a State-owned eatery in the 1950s, and has entertained many political leaders while they were in office, including President Jiang Zemin, US President George W. Bush and Taiwan leader Lian Zhan.

Today, it has nearly 20 branches on the Chinese mainland and Taiwan; a Singapore branch will open in the near future.