It is difficult to overestimate the primacy of food and dining in China. This was taken to an extreme by China's best known gourmands, the Emperor Qianlong and his descendant, the Dowager Empress Cixi (r.1861-1908). She was served more than one hundred dishes a day and spent some 50,000 taels of silver or about US$70,000 a week on her meals!

The wealth and internationalism of today's China have created an exciting, fast -developing food culture. Besides the rich array of traditional, regional cuisines, in major cities one can sample a fine selection of Western restaurants as well as those conjuring up an eclectic fusion of Chinese and Western traditions.

Imperial Tours provides the finest available Western and Chinese restaurants in any destination. In Beijing and Shanghai our restaurants include establishments of the caliber of Maison Boulud, Lan Club, Sens & Bund, M on the Bund, Jean Georges and Whampoa Club, as well as exclusive private clubs such as The China Club. These have been featured in well-known luxury travel magazines and guides. Apart from these, Imperial Tours also uses many excellent Chinese restaurants that are not generally known.Your fondest memories will however probably be of banquets we privately cater at various cultural sites. These are often under the direction of Imperial Tours' chef*.

A number of principles inform our restaurant and menu choices for an itinerary:

• Chinese meals introduce you to a range and balance of regional dishes through the tour. (Please note that the China Host can alter menus while on tour to cater to particular tastes.)
• Western meals are interspersed regularly throughout the tour
• Western meals are typically a la carte
  

*Our chef is also available for private dining arrangements in destinations with limited restaurant facilities such as Lhasa.