ZHANG Qian, am imperial envoy in the 2nd century BC, was dispatched by Emperor Wu to explore areas outside the Western Regions, or Xiyu, that neighbor the territory of the Han Dynasty. The emperor intended to establish commercial ties with distant lands.

During Zhang’s exploration, he brought back foreign envoys to show their respects. The courtiers argued about the protocol in order to best treat these envoys and asked Emperor Wu to host an official banquet that gave universal satisfaction.

State banquets since then have become an important part of national protocol work in China. It generally refers to the banquet held by the president and the prime minister for foreign administrators visiting China.

Food, far from merely meeting basic human needs, has long been used as a powerful diplomatic and symbolic tool. Legend goes that the Roman Empire used food to negotiate and settle disputes with adversaries, when over long meals with ample wine the enemies would divulge state secrets.

For many years, most media reports about state banquets merely listed the delegates while the menu remained under wraps. But this month, Xinhua news agency unveiled the full menu of CICA (Conference on Interaction and Confidence-Building Measures in Asia), revealing what President Xi Jinping, Vladimir Putin and other heads of states and governments had for dinner.

The banquet was held at a 5-star hotel in the Pudong New Area. The chefs were commissioned more than half a year ago to prepare this banquet that would represent the cuisine of the southern area of the Yangtze River, according to the executive chef Su Dexing.

The menu, themed “Silk Road,” included fish maw stewed with pine mushrooms, double-flavored prawn, fried and braised beef, stir-fried scallop, flatfish with soya bean sauce and stir-fried towel gourd and green soybean, plus six appetizers, dim sum, fruit and dessert.

The day before the banquet, Su and eight other chefs rehearsed twice. “Nine chefs needed to prepare over 10 dishes for each of the 330 guests. We were under unprecedented pressure,” says Su.

The banquet excluded expensive items like shark’s fin and abalone — conventional highlights for a Chinese banquet. Instead the chef used seasonal ingredients commonly seen in local market.

“Though the ingredients seem pretty the same as a present-day family meal, common food involves many refined cooking methods. And that’s the extraordinary part of a state banquet,” says Su.

The chefs first select the premium ingredients, including vegetables that are seasonally fresh and pesticide-free. For simple courses, the chefs use nearly all cooking methods to show the various changes of the food — stewing, braising, boiling, frying, steaming, baking and more.

Western style

“Towel gourd is a tricky vegetable that would turn dark after stir-frying. So we put a little bit salt to pickle it for 10 minutes and then wash it by water to ensure the vivid green presentation,” Su explains.

In order to suit the foreign delegates’ taste, more Western style was used on the Chinese cuisine. Su says they used black pepper and brandy as the seasonings.

The timing of presenting the dish is another key point. “The banquet costs an hour and 15 minutes and you can’t hold up for one minute since they are going to the grand theater later. You must serve the dish in between the pause of performance. The timing must be accurate to within seconds,” says Su.

The dish can’t be prepared too early, otherwise it will turn slightly cold and lose the best texture.

All dishes are presented using chinaware that relates to the theme “Silk Road,” an ancient trade and culture route that connected China with Central Asia.

A state banquet plays a key role in diplomacy of any country. Every nation seeks to present its cuisine mixed with culture on the banquet table.

In 1949, after the founding ceremony of New China, the newly formed central government held the first formal state banquet to welcome over 600 domestic and foreign delegates. Premier Zhou determined the menu himself.

Huaiyang cuisine was the main style of the banquet, chosen for its moderately salty and sweet taste and considered suitable for the people in both southern and northern China.

Huaiyang cuisine derived from the native cooking style common in the lower reaches of the Huai and Yangtze rivers. It tends to be slightly sweet and almost never spicy, in contrast to some cuisines like Sichuan. It is usually more meticulously prepared and light in taste.

In a nod to austerity, Zhou made sure that only four hot dishes and one soup were presented with appetizers and dim sum.

Some 43 years ago, then American President Richard Nixon made an epoch-making visit to China, a country isolated from the world. Premier Zhou Enlai said to him, “Your handshake came over the vastest ocean in the world — 25 years of no communication.”

Later, they joined the state banquet at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing.

Chairman Mao Zedong added three dishes in person for Nixon and his wife at a lunch banquet. One was called hongshao huashui — herring tail braised in soy sauce. The symbolism of that dish was that fish tail drives progress, so the dish was considered a hope that the two countries would work and develop together.

At the dinner banquet, Premier Zhou presented Moutai, which he had stored for over 30 years, to treat guests. The pure, transparent and mellow liquor attracted Nixon so much that he recorded it in his memoirs later.

Seven days after the state banquet, the Chinese and American parties singed the Sino-US Joint Communique in Shanghai.

State banquet menu

APEC Summit in Shanghai — October 20, 2001

• Appetizer

• Hot dishes: Pine mushrooms in chicken sauce; lime-sauce prawn; steak in Chinese style; seasonal vegetables

• Dessert

• Beverage: Moutai, wine, Tsingtao beer, orange juice, mineral water and more

World Expo 2010 Shanghai

• Cold dishes: Roasted goose; baby abalone; seaweed egg roll; sweet beans; prawn meat and more

• Hot dishes: Braised river carp with shepherd’s purse; stewed cuttlefish roe with prawn; stir-fried bamboo shoots with bean seedlings; fried and braised beef

• Dim sum: Shanghai-style dumpling (wonton)

• Dessert: Fresh fruit mousse

• Beverage: Wine and more

2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing

• Appetizer and cold dish: Fish roll in beancurd sheet; foie gras; tofu cake; shrimp jelly

• Hot dishes: Lotus steak; seasonal vegetable; codfish in soy sauce; pine mushroom soup

• Snack: Beijing roasted duck

• Dim sum and ice cream

State banquet after founding ceremony of New China in 1949

• Cold dish: Salted duck with sweet osmanthus; soy sauce chicken; mushroom with walnut meat; shrimp with winter bamboo; smoked fish and more

• Hot dishes: Steamed chicken with mushrooms; stir-fried Chinese flowering cabbage with mushroom; braised carp in soy sauce; loin’s head (steamed meat ball)

• Dim sum: Fried spring roll; steamed bun in sweetened bean paste; shaomai (dumplings) with vegetable and meat stuffing; multiple layer cake