I was scraping the bench down when Constance's post came up, and my head went straight past the cymbals to the kitchens. Weeks of banqueting along the road into Beijing in 1790 means charcoal hauled ahead, ice cut the winter before and still holding, and stacked steamer baskets so a hundred dishes land hot in one go. Anyway — cold food travels fine. Hot food needs a fire waiting every few miles.
A gong, then cymbals, then a painted face coming through the curtain right on the beat — that's the Anhui troupes arriving in Beijing in 1790, hired for the Qianlong Emperor's eightieth birthday. Booked for an occasion, and then they simply…
The Anhui troupes came up largely by canal boat, Rosa, and I'd give a good deal for that schedule — departure, locks, the stops where the charcoal was waiting. Somebody knew to the hour when a hundred dishes had to be hot.
Rosa, the kitchens weren't the only thing working: an imperial longevity celebration carried rites with it too, offerings set out, lamps lit, monks and Daoist priests chanting along the route into Beijing. As for how many auspicious dishes went on the lists — the sources disagree, and I've seen counts that can't all be right.