You can taste the food of merchants for free in the Song Dynasty.

The market management system during the Song Dynasty was relatively lax, with no strict restrictions on trading hours and places, and the bustle of the markets was incomparable to that of the Tang Dynasty. The night market picks up the morning market, twenty-four hours a day business, any time you go out there are stores stalls in business. This market atmosphere provides conditions for free tasting of merchants' food.

Business culture during the Song Dynasty period focused on honesty and word of mouth. In order to attract customers and increase sales, merchants practiced a "credit system," allowing consumers to take goods and pay for them later, or to pay in installments. At the same time, merchants would display their goods in various ways to attract customers' attention. Free tasting of goods sold by merchants is one of these ways, in which some food is distributed for free regardless of whether the customer buys it or not, but it is sold on the basis of the customer's satisfaction after tasting it.

Development of catering industry in the Song Dynasty:

The development of catering industry in the Song Dynasty is a product of social civilization and the highly developed background of commodity economy. The rapid development of the agricultural economy, the improvement of the quality and quantity of agricultural products, the opening of the Maritime Silk Road and the social atmosphere of the Song Dynasty that emphasized commerce, coupled with the importance of people's health, all of these factors contributed to the prosperous development of the catering industry in the Song Dynasty. On the basis of the developed catering industry, the major merchants are constantly committed to the reputation and dishes to push the boundaries of innovation, digging to establish a unique brand, to win the hearts and stomachs of the majority of diners.

Thoughtful service and warm attitude let the people see the credibility of the catering industry, thus becoming the largest group of dietary consumers, and even the emperor was attracted by these folk cuisine. The well-developed catering and takeaway service industry not only facilitated the daily life of the ancients, but also played an inestimable role in the economic and cultural development of the Song Dynasty.