Speaking of "Xing Hua Lou," the origins of its name, but also have a say. House just opened the third overall business is good, is not known. One secondary schools of Jun Su (Su Baohua), he is the store's old customers, there is an old friend of the hotel operators. This suggested to the manager: After expansion, business is good, also should play a nickname. Hearing boss exact mind, then please Su Jun comments. The Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu Su then to the "Tomb Sweeping Festival rain have, pedestrians Deep Sorrow side of the road. I ask where the good restaurants, cowboy Yao Zhi Heng Fa Chuen." It is recommended that access to "apricot", listen to the boss after very happy that this name both elegant and loud, so it will be "third overall floor" to "Xing Hua Lou."

Xinghualou was founded in 1851. According to the declaration in 1948, he had advertised to celebrate the 97th anniversary of the establishment of Xinghua Building and issued preferential gift certificates. In addition, according to the city library's preservation of photos and information, Xinghua Building was indeed founded in 1851. Formerly known as "Tanhualou", the founder was a "Shengzi" Cantonese. At that time, he only opened a night supper shop, selling Guangdong desserts and porridge. Although it is a small business, the business is good. Later, Fuzhou Road became a more prosperous street. This is where Cantonese named Hong Jiru and Chen Shengfang entered the store. In the early period of the Republic of China, an old-style building was expanded into a building with a facade resembling a "silver building", with a Cantonese flavor. At that time, there were more and more industrial and commercial people from Guangdong who came to Shanghai to operate, and a large number of guest store warehouses were opened. The manager of the Tanhua shop was surnamed "Ou". He was not a businessman himself. He did it for a period of time. The famous chef Li Jinhai who is good at making Cantonese cuisine is the manager. After taking office, Li was ambitious. Seeing that the supply of snacks could no longer meet the needs of commercial social entertainment, he proposed to increase the banquet and other businesses. To this end, Li Jinhai raised funds to establish "Tanhualou Co., Ltd.". In 1927, the original site was turned into a four-story hotel with a seven-story facade and a steel-concrete structure. The shop has a snack restaurant, as well as a take-out counter, serving local Guangdong specialties. The second and third floors specialize in banquets for dinner and there are five large and small restaurants. On the fourth floor, a “boat hall” was specially built with celebrity calligraphy and paintings. The interior was arranged according to the full set of mahogany furniture loved by Wu Tiecheng, the Shanghai Mayor of the Kuomintang at that time, and some antique colored glazed porcelain products were specially customized in Jingdezhen to decorate the restaurant with antiques. Yajing is dedicated to the services of the wealthy and wealthy businessmen. Since then, Xinghua Tower has attracted a large number of people in the business community, military and political circles, with a great reputation, prosperous business and a high reputation. In addition to supplying authentic Cantonese cuisine, it also serves European and American dishes.

Speaking of the origin of the name of "Xinghualou", there is also a saying. Although the newly opened Tanhualou business is good, it is not well-known. Su Jun (Su Baohua), a middle school teacher, is an old customer of the shop and an old friend of the restaurant operator. This person suggested to the manager: After the expansion, the business is good, and it should be a good name. After the boss listened to it, he asked Su Jun to express his opinion. This Mr. Su based on the Tang Dynasty poet Du Mu's "Clear rains during the Qingming Festival and pedestrians on the roadside want to break their souls. Asking the restaurant where is good, the shepherd boy refers to Xinghua Village." I was very happy and felt that the name was both elegant and loud, so I changed "Tanhualou" to "Xinghualou".

In 1930, Zhu Ruzhen (Guangdong), who was the leader of the late Qing Dynasty, also wrote a signboard for Xinghualou. The font is beautiful, hanging in the middle of the shop on the ground floor. This signboard has survived all the storms. The sign of "Xinghualou" is written in "Gengwu Mengdong", and two seals of "Zhu Ruzhenyin" and "Jiachen Bangyan" are registered.

Speaking of Zhu Ruzhen, there is one more thing. Zhu Ruzhen was at the top of the list during the imperial examination, but by the time the list was published, it became the top of the list. Why? It turned out that Zhu committed a "two bogey". First, the surname "Zhu" had "connection" with the Ming Dynasty. At that time, there was a resurgence of "Ming" forces. This was a bogey; second, Zhu was a Cantonese. "Contact" was put on, and it was replaced by the Qing Dynasty's top spot.

After the renovation, although the name of Xinghualou was changed, some of the original calligraphy and paintings are still preserved. A more typical woodcut painting about 60 meters in one meter, called "Exploring the Flower Map", depicts the top spot of the top flower, with the lifelike top three and horseback riding. The woodcut depicts a couplet on both sides, "The sword is a glass of wine, and the tall building is thousands of miles deep." At the time of its opening, social celebrities also came to He Xi. Zhang Taiyan presented a couplet "The secret juice can eliminate the thirst of the road, and the river fish can solve the monarch's worries." The horizontal approval was to give Su Baohua, the starting name of Xinghua Tower, a gift of "Wu Zun Zun Ling", and the Kuomintang veteran Yu Renyou gave a couplet as "Poetry and Painting, Wang Mojie, Shipborne Books, and Mishe." Etc ... These calligraphy and paintings were decorated in the lobby, shop hall and staircase respectively, and remained until the "Cultural Revolution", but suffered the impact of the "Cultural Revolution" and were smashed by the old.

By the 1930s, the Xinghua Building was booming, and Li Jinhai wanted to show his grandeur. He also opened the "Xinghua Building" as a branch at the intersection of Hubei Road and Hankou. At that time, the Xinghua Building was a building with three facades. The business was good, but later it went out for various reasons.

The famous Xinghua Building became more and more famous. In order to expand the influence, advertisements were also made on the facade. The outer wall was carved with cement round edges and the inside was made of wood. The vermilion lacquer was written with "smart European and American dishes, specially for Chinese banquets." Under the eaves of each floor, the characters and business scope of the restaurant are marked with black glass gold characters: a large Han banquet is hung on the ground floor, hogs, ducks, seafood speculation, casual snacks, Guangdong wonton, special banquet, European and American dishes. Hanging on the second floor: dragon and phoenix cakes, refined biscuits, seasonal names, fresh fruits at 4 o'clock, canned food, Chinese and Western wine, Liangyang seafood. The signboard on the third floor is: There is a magnificent auditorium in this building, which is specially designed for wedding banquets, refined wedding cakes, birthday peach, official gifts and treasures. The characteristics of the restaurant's business projects, etc., customers can see at a glance on the road.

In the 1930s and 1940s, Xinghualou's business was booming. Famous at the time were Cantonese cuisine and rice dumplings, cured meat, and dragon and phoenix cakes. Mooncakes are not very well-known. At that time, Wu Tiecheng, the mayor of Shanghai of the Kuomintang, preferred Cantonese food to eat Xinghualou. Anyone who wants to invite guests for a banquet must be placed in the Xinghua Tower. Wu was a banquet for the politicians and celebrities. At that time, those who came to the Xinghua Tower were: Li Zongren, Wang Jingwei, Sun Ke, Chen Gongbo, Huang Jinrong, Du Yuesheng, Zhu Jiehua (Ministry of Education), Huang Chonghui (Ministry of Foreign Affairs), Secretary-General of the Municipal Government Yu Hongjun, and banker Chen Xianfu are also regular guests of Xinghualou. Wu Tiecheng ’s Xinghua Building must be located on the fourth floor of the “boat hall”. In the later Tang Enbo, the banquet in Xinghua Building was on the fourth floor. The boss also expanded the scope of business and went out to cook, serve, deliver food and later company dishes. During the war of resistance against Japan, a large number of staff of the Japanese foreign bank were almost all wrapped in the Xinghua Building, including Mitsubishi Corporation and Dongqiao Foreign Bank.

Speaking of moon cakes in Xinghualou, it is now a household name. But in the 1920s, Xinghualou was not famous when it started making mooncakes. At that time, the famous Cantonese mooncakes in Shanghai were Guan Shengyuan and Tao Tao Restaurant. Li Jinhai, the manager of Xinghualou, aimed at the moon cakes of the famous Taotao restaurant. The Taotao restaurant was located on North Sichuan Road. At that time, the sales of mooncakes in Xinghualou were not good. On the one hand, Li Jinhai stepped up his research process and improved quality. I rented a facade, picked colorful flags, please play the band, and hired a beautiful lady to sing the Taiwan opera with the Tao Tao restaurant. The first year ended in failure. In the second year, we reorganized and improved our quality, worked hard, and continued to sing against the Taiwanese opera. So Xinghualou Mooncake finally hit. In the future, Xinghualou mooncakes will continue to improve their craftsmanship, from material selection to processing, and they will have a brand in the hearts of the citizens. The Xinghualou moon cakes are made of materials that are beautiful, beautiful in appearance, golden in color, rich in oil and water, rich in thin skin filling, delicious and crispy. Moon cakes also have a variety of colors, including: lotus, coconut, sausage, Bai Guo, bean paste, ma rong, bean paste, Chang'e flying to the moon, Phoenix Gongyue, Shuanglongpanyue, Santan Yinyue, Moon Palace Box, etc. Since then, Xinghualou mooncakes have become famous in Shanghai and become a must-have gift for the Mid-Autumn Festival. After the liberation, Xinghua Building was renovated several times, making the building from the original four floors to the current five floors. Hundreds of tables of banquets can be placed at a time. Thousands of people can dine at the same time. There are exquisite private rooms, equipped with central air conditioning, more complete equipment, and exquisite decoration. Due to the fine selection of dishes, delicious taste, light and delicious dishes, it reflects the rich Cantonese flavor and is well received by Chinese and foreign customers. Chen Yi, the first mayor of Shanghai, came to Xinghualou for dinner, as did the US Senator Edward Kennedy. Hong Kong, Macao, Taiwan compatriots and overseas Chinese returned to the mainland and made a special trip to find Xinghualou for dinner. The famous dishes of Xinghualou include: roasted pork roast in the oven, prawns in shishi, slippery beef in oyster sauce, fish spicy tofu in oil, Changlin pomfret in oil, snake feast mainly based on snakes, snake soup, etc ... After the meal, the words "Quan Xian Bi Zhi" were left. Xinghua Building has a long history of 140 years. Although the employees have changed for several generations, the traditional characteristics are still passed down from generation to generation. They cherish this gold signboard and will continue to work hard for our catering industry. Contribute.

In those days, Xinghua Building also had a popular nickname, Jinhai Silver Building. What is Jin Hai? It refers to Li Jinhai, who has excellent cooking skills and has built a stable iron for Xinghua Building. This silver building is talking about the store style of Xinghua Building. It looks like a Guangdong silver building, unique. The combination of the two reveals that Xinghualou is an authentic Cantonese cuisine, with outstanding taste and uniqueness, and its dishes are more like gold and silver. How does the authentic Cantonese delicacies of Xinghua Lou make people coveted and unstoppable? And let you taste the chopsticks and test the mystery.

From "bag water" to the Guangdong seat

Old Shanghai has a mantra that “water in the morning, water in the night” is to bathe and incubate; this water is to eat morning tea. In fact, as early as the 1940s and 1950s, Shanghainese did not have the habit of eating morning tea. It was only because there were many businessmen from Guangdong who came to Shanghai to do business that they integrated this "drinking tea" into the lives of Shanghainese people.

As mentioned in the previous article, when Shengzai, the originator of Xinghualou, first came to Shencheng, he made a living by selling porridge stalls for supper. After the hotel moved to Sima Road, the local literati gathered together, happily drinking tea, chatting, and talking about the mountains and seas. Therefore, Xinghualou changed its business and started the business of "bag water" in Shanghai, operating Cantonese morning tea. For a time, all kinds of Guangbang dim sum such as raw porridge, shrimp dumplings, barbecued pork buns, fresh meat buns, Jianshui rice dumplings, etc. are known in Shanghai for their exquisite and delicate flavors. Every morning, as long as the smoke from the Xinghua Building rises, there will be a lot of traffic in front of the door. At that time, there was a cloud in the market: Do not go to the Guangdong shop to hatch, the belly is empty, and the brain is empty.

In 1980, "Jiefang Daily" was titled "Ask Where Tea Houses Are Available", telling the beauty of Xinghualou's morning tea, "Several exquisite little points, a pot of thick hot tea" Hope that there can be more such fine in Shanghai Early tea house with distinctive cooking skills. Today, the morning tea market in Xinghualou is even more irresistible. The business characteristics of morning tea with rice have been emulated by many restaurants in Shanghai.

The simple five-character word "bring your meals early" is a true portrayal of Xinghualou dining from small fights to big shows. In 1927, after Li Jinhai became the head of the house, he found that with the popularity of morning tea, the light and smooth, fresh and multi-flavored, salty and sweet moderate Cantonese taste has been accepted by many Shanghainese. So, from operating Cantonese snacks to having a casual drink, having wine and dishes, he also hired a master chef to cook a batch of Guangdong famous dishes with good color, aroma, taste and style, attracting more dignitaries and nobles. Patronized, onion oil tender chicken, oil-soaked Chang Lin Chang retain the original flavor and incomparably delicious; Goulao meat, oyster sauce beef has its own beauty; homemade fish slipper, fish pine, smooth and flexible due to the fresh ingredients. Not many days have passed since the Xinghua Tower's Guangdong seat, Xiang Piao Shen City, is a must-have for adults to invite relatives and friends and entertain guests. Many classic dishes are the first to open Cantonese cuisine in Shanghai.

"Xinghualou is going to Boston!"

After the liberation, it was a place for Chinese and foreign VIPs to come. The first mayor of Shanghai, Chen Yi, said after tasting the dishes of Xinghualou; the former mayor of Shanghai, Wang Daohan, came to the restaurant for dinner and was even more interested in it. The word "Quan Xian Bi Zhi" was written.

United States Democratic Senator Edward. When Kennedy was invited to visit China to visit Shanghai, he went to Xinghualou to dine. He and his entourage tasted "Xishi shrimp", "fried fried ice cream balls", "oyster sauce beef" and other dishes cooked by the famous chef of the shop, and he was very happy, especially the chicken, ham, bamboo shoots, "Fried ice cream balls" made of fresh milk and other raw materials are more satisfying. He praised and said: "I had a good meal today. I hope to stay in China for three months and come here to eat every day." And said, "If you go to Boston to do business, it must be very good!"

Got this reputation, the Cantonese cuisine of Xinghualou is even more vigorous. In the 1980s, speaking of Cantonese cuisine was undoubtedly the most popular in Guangdong, Hong Kong and Macau. However, in 1982, the "Macao Daily" published a report entitled "Shanghai Xinghualou Restaurant launched the famous dish Mantanxiang". Its text said: Shanghai's famous Xinghualou Restaurant launched dog meat, sea cucumber, abalone and other seafood for The main ingredient of the mandarin incense not only uses the essence, but also can be added with different ingredients according to the requirements of the eater. The pottery jar of Shengcai is very elaborate, which is specially customized from Taoxing Yixing. , Huaiqi stewed fur seal fish and phoenix wings are good dishes praised by customers. With just a few lines of text, there is a lot of praise and envy. It can be seen that, at that time, the delicacies of Xinghualou were already among the best in Guangbang cuisine.

Xinghualou people always seem to love innovation and stand on the tide of catering development. On New Year's Eve in 1982, the Xinghua Building was brilliantly lit, and 34 households (corner lights) were intertwined to celebrate the Spring Festival. This was the first time Xinghua Building had opened a New Year's Eve dinner for customers since 126 years. Shen Tianmin, a 74-year-old man who has just returned from Taiwan to settle down, has more than 70 people in the family together, showing the strong feelings of the compatriots on both sides of the strait. For a time, this matter was cited by the major media as beautiful stories.

After this, "easy to worry, go to the restaurant to eat New Year's Eve" has gradually become a popular move in Shanghai, but also opened up a new market and situation for the development of Xinghualou restaurant.

More than 400 pots of chicken are sent away in one day

Has talked about the history for a long time, and here we should also talk about the dishes that Xinghua Lou is famous for. When it comes to Cantonese cuisine, this chicken is naturally the first signboard. Guangdong Qingyuan chicken is famous for its firm and tender meat. It is near the water floor and the moon first. Guangdong people are naturally handy and skillful in making chicken.

Whoever thought that when the Xinghua Lou just launched the onion farm chicken in the 1930s and 1940s, few people liked it. Why? Is the material not refined? Otherwise, although the transportation was inconvenient at the beginning, Xinghua Building adhered to the tradition of fine selection of materials, and each chicken was carefully selected from Qingyuan, Guangdong. Is the chef kung fu dying? Not the same, this dish is secretly made by multiple processes, the skin color is golden, the outside is crisp and the inside is tender, the fragrance is delicious. The boss tried to find the reason, and finally found out that the Shanghainese liked chicken soup or white chopped chicken with dip, but the essence of Guangdong chicken cooking was delicious.

So, the boss simply set up a stall in front of the hotel door, and gave a limited amount of passerine chicken on a daily basis as needed. The good thing about "pie in the sky" who didn't want to go forward, suddenly, the crowd in front of Xinghualou, "Go to Xinghualou, eat scallion chicken." It became one of the popular words of Shencheng at that time. At most one day, Xinghualou actually gave away more than 400 pots of chicken. Its unique good taste made many "Bai Na Huo" willingly took out the banknotes and became a repeat customer.

Subsequently, Xinghualou used onion oil chicken to promote the sales and promotion of other dishes. A lot of distinctive Yangcheng style famous dishes such as shrimps, fish head soup in black bean sauce, bazhen braised snake soup, chicken crispy geese and so on The people spoke eloquently and spread it to this day.