In 1900, the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, and Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled.

Originally, those who stood in the way should be carefree, but the Queen Mother is the Queen Mother after all!

During the 53 days in the west, she spent a lot of money, ate and drank, and tasted the local characteristics of Shanxi and the taste of Shanxi cuisine.

From corn stalks in ordinary people's fields to millet porridge in Wowotou to satisfy hunger; from ordinary farmers' home-cooked dishes to local snacks; from high-end banquets for dignitaries to luxurious banquets for Manchus, she deeply felt the highest realm of super eating.

I also deeply observed the taste of Shanxi local food.

During her two days in Wenxi County, Shanxi Province, she actually spent 200,000 taels of silver, equivalent to the total money and taxes she spent in this county for three years.

It can be said that it is "competing for gold every day"!

Such extravagance and waste cannot but shock people.

First, people eat polenta and mung bean noodles on the road.

In 1900, when the Eight-Power Allied Forces invaded Beijing, Empress Dowager Cixi and Emperor Guangxu fled in a hurry. They disguised themselves as an old village woman and took only a few scattered silver coins with them to escape from the Forbidden City with refugees.

The half month before entering Shanxi can be said to be a time of displacement.

Even Cixi herself said: "I have become the grandmother of a country." It was so embarrassing that a bowl of millet porridge and half a steamed bun were enough to satisfy the Empress Dowager Cixi, who was well-dressed all day long.

Eating satisfies the needs of survival, the great desire in life, and the source of needs.

When survival is threatened, everything is in vain, and filling your stomach is the most important thing.

On the way westward, the Queen Mother, known as Lafayette, rushed to meet basic needs immediately.

On August 30, 1900, I arrived in Tianzhen County, Datong Prefecture in a sedan chair.

Driving was nothing more than that in those days.

Tianzhen is located at the junction of Shanxi, Hebei and Mongolia, and is also the only way from Hebei to Shanxi.

Cixi and her party rested for the night in a temple called Ciyun Temple.

The food prepared for Cixi at that time was very untidy.

It is said that they only drank a bowl of polenta.

On September 1, Cixi arrived at Julebao, Yanggao County, Datong, and spent the night in a deep house compound on the north side of the village's east road, that is, the Li family in Wangguantun.

At this point, millet porridge and steamed buns are hard to explain Lafayette.

I prepared mung bean noodles, a local specialty, for Empress Dowager Cixi of the Li family.

It is also served with wild vegetables such as mushrooms, fungus, herbs and goldenrod.

But before the noodles were imported, someone was making trouble outside the door.

Several local youths broke their legs while going up the mountain to collect wild vegetables and begging for medical expenses.

It turned out that in order to please Cixi, the eunuch secretly ordered the local camp to be set up and forced the villagers to go up the mountain to collect.

Cixi beheaded the eunuch in anger.

Early the next morning, Cixi did not dare to stay long and ordered to leave immediately.

Probably because of the interference, the bowl of mung bean noodles had no taste at all, so the mung bean noodles were not praised by the Queen Mother and did not gain much popularity.

2. To avoid taboos, the famous Shanxi dish "Feng Pa Wo" was renamed "Jin Feng Wo Xue".

The next day, Cixi and Guangxu arrived at Datong Mansion, well prepared and supplied with supplies.

The famous restaurant in Datong Mansion at that time was Fenglin Pavilion, which was very famous in the Ming Dynasty.

Local officials called in the famous chefs from Fenglin Pavilion to cook Datong's most famous dishes for Cixi and Guangxu.

One of the dishes is called "Feng Pa Wo", which is the signature dish of this restaurant.

In the late Ming Dynasty, it began to spread among the people.

The method is to boil a chicken and put it on a large plate, then put some fried dry vermicelli underneath, and put 10 fried hard-boiled eggs and fried tofu next to it.

After finishing the dish, Cixi asked the attendant next to her what the name of the dish was.

The attendants immediately went to the officials waiting outside the door to inquire.

Officials believe that Empress Dowager Cixi's visit was known as the Western Inauguration.

In fact, isn’t it just an escape?

I was afraid that the word "Feng Pa Wo" would be beaten to death, so I racked my brains and came up with a name of "Golden Phoenix Wo Xue" to make a dish name that connotes downfall more elegant.

From then on, this dish was named "Snow Golden Phoenix".

Green's chef specially made 9 cages of "Hundred Flowers Steamed Dumplings", which include 9 kinds of meat fillings such as chicken, duck, fish, shrimp, crab, beef, sheep, pig, rabbit, etc., wrapped in a transparent and bright thin skin.

The tops of steamed dumplings are made into 9 flower shapes including peony, lotus, rose, peony, magnolia, rose, autumn chrysanthemum, azalea and plum blossom.

Such an exquisite "Steamed Dumplings with Hundred Flowers" has significantly improved the lives of Cixi and her busy court officials and entourage until now.

After getting rid of corn gluttony, Cixi's stomach has become picky.

3. Appreciate the moon during the Mid-Autumn Festival in Xinzhou and taste 24 Shanxi delicacies in one meal.

Cixi moved on.

After hearing the news, the local government sent people in groups to deliver hay and gifts.

Cixi's flight to the west coincided with the eighth month of the lunar calendar.

She originally planned to go to Taiyuan to celebrate the Mid-Autumn Festival, but the rainy season was difficult, so she had to go to Xinzhou to celebrate the New Year.

Although they are on the road to escape, the royal holiday must be taken seriously.

Empress Dowager Cixi lived in Gongyuan Xinzhou shortly after getting off the bus in Xinzhou.

The yard is big and bright, and every corner has been swept away.

Gongyuan's melons and fruits are fragrant, the gongs and drums are noisy, and everything is filled with a festive atmosphere.

Cixi's personal maid recalled: "For more than a month, sometimes I ate well, sometimes I ate poorly. For this meal, officials of all sizes ate the most sumptuous meal along the way: four cold meats

Press the table, four stir-fried dishes, four small bowls, four medium bowls, four big bowls, four large plates, and finally a large bowl of soup. "The Empress Dowager Cixi was in a state of grandeur.

He was served by the emperor and empress in his private room, and the food was higher than this.

After the meal, according to the custom in the palace, the queen went to pay homage to Lord Taiyin. She set up a table and placed incense in the southeast corner of the Gongyuan.

There are four plates of fruit and four plates of mooncakes on the table.

The mooncakes were piled half a foot high.