There are many time-honored restaurants hidden in parks all over Beijing that visitors may like to taste while enjoying beautiful scenery.

Beihai Park

Regarded as one of Beijing’s oldest imperial restaurants, Fangshan Restaurant was founded in 1925, specializing in imperial cuisine featuring stir-fried dishes and delicate sauces. The menu includes stir-fried fish fillet, stir-fried pork kidney and liver, stir-fried prawns, fried pea sauce, and fried cucumber sauce, among others. The cooking techniques of Fangshan (imperial cuisine in the Qing Dynasty) were listed as one of the national intangible cultural heritage items.

[Photo via VCG]

Qingfeng Baozipu was established in 1948, which was then called Wanxing Ju. The locals combined their experience and learning from other restaurants that sold Baozi to create buns that suit their palates. In 1976, Wanxing Ju was renamed Qingfeng Baozipu which means celebrating harvest.

Summer Palace

Tingliguan specializes in imperial court dishes. Its famous offerings include a variety of palace-style dim sum, Doushabao (red bean steamed buns), Wotou (buns made of corn flour), etc. In 2009, the techniques of cooking birthday feasts by Tingliguan were listed as one of the intangible cultural heritage items at municipal level.

Zhongshan Park

Laijinyuxuan is a time-honored tea house with elegant scenery and nice surroundings found inside Zhongshan Park. The name itself literally means a place where friends gather together. Famous figures in history such as Li Dazhao, Lu Xun, Mao Dun, and Ye Shengtao used to have meals there. The interior and decor of Laijinyuxuan resembles the layout of old-style ones, with traditional tea tables and benches, ebony floor and stairs, and tiles with vintage flower imprints. Try some of the Dongcai Baozi with a pot of tea and spend a leisurely afternoon there.

(Source: Beijing Municipal Bureau of Culture and Tourism)