Restaurant adds Tang to menus

The newly unveiled show at the Xi'an Qu Jiang Fu Rong Ge Hotel brings diners an immersive 90-minute "bite" of Chang'an with an engaging evening party that replicates the dinners that intellectuals, musicians and dancers of Tang once enjoyed.

Directed by Sun Ting and Liu Xiaozhou, the dinner show allows people to feast on a carefully designed culinary set while their eyes and ears feast on a show that reenacts the many social aspects of the Tang Dynasty at its aesthetic heights.

The dining hall is refurnished to resemble a fashion showroom, and diners sit at long tables with two rows on each side while performances are staged on the walkway in the middle.

If they like, guests can wear Tang attire and makeup with the help of hotel staff members before attending the banquet.

"A primary challenge for this project is that, while we want to unveil a flourishing Chang'an and its diverse aspects of life, the show mustn't be dramatic — we don't want people to feel uncomfortable or too emotional when they eat," Liu says.

"There is no plot or story to compete for people's attention or disrupt their gastronomic experiences.

"Every scenario reveals a dimension of Tang society, culture and art, and reflects its varied seasonal customs. They can be performed as a stand-alone piece, so we can make improvements to the content and actions."