Historical records show that Beijing Roast Duck first began in Nanjing, which was the capital of early Ming dynasty. When the capital moved to Beijing, the dish was also brought to Beijing as a delicacy on the imperial menu. Today there are two major schools of roast duck preparation, each with its own heritage. The first makes use of a conventional convection oven, in which no flames come into direct contact with the duck. The prime exponent of this technique is the Bianyifang Restaurants in Chongwenmen, which traces its history back to 1818. The second and better known method was developed in the imperial kitchens of the Qing Dynasty palace. Among many roast duck restaurants, Quanjude is the most popular one.

Indeally, the duck must be the white Beijing variety. It should be 65 days old when slaughtered and weigh two-and-a-half kilograms. Every six hours of the last 20days of their life, they queue obediently for a forced-feeding of highly nutritious mush that thickens the layer of fat under the skin. It takes four days to prepare a duck for the oven. After plucking, the bird is thoroughly cleaned, with each part carefully set aside for later use.

Air is pumped into the duck between its skin and flesh to give the rich, crispy texture when the duck is cooked. It is then brushed with a glaze and hung up to dry for 24 hours, to further separate the skin from the meat. When roasting, the duck is filled with water until the roasting is done and then the duck is hooked on a spit in a huge, round oven, which can take up to 20 ducks at a time.

The duck are roasted in a doorless oven, using non-smoky hardwood fuel, such as Chinese date, peach or pear to impart a subtle fruity flavor to the skin, the oven is heated to 270 degrees Centigrade and the ducks are left to roast for 30---40 minutes, depending on the sizes of the ducks, and the ducks must be turned frequently throughout the roasting process to ensure even cooking and to prevent them burning.

A Beijing duck dinner is more than just a meal. It's a ritual. Beginning with the cold appetizers, using liver, wing, stomach, web and eggs, and moving on through the four-part duck soup to the hot dishes-fried duck's heart in salt and pepper, tongue, kidneys-the whole roast duck is carried to the table fall all to see before the meat is sliced and served. Normally, there is an accepted method of preparing Beijing Duck. Likewise, there is also a proper way to eat it. Holding a wafer pancake in his left hand, the dinner picks up two or three pieces of meat, cut into two-inch-square slices, and having dipped them into a thick, sweet sauce called "Jiang", places them in the center of the pancake, and adding some spring onions, fold the pancake---and munches.