The hometown of roast duck is actually Nanjing City of Jiangsu Province in East China. In the 19th year (1421) during the Yongle reign of the Ming Dynasty (1368-1644), the emperor moved the capital from Nanjing to Beijing, and hence roasted duck was introduced to Beijing and became an imperial dish.

Beijing ducks are called force-fed ducks, which are raised for the sole purpose of making the food. Force-fed, they are kept in cages which restrain them from moving about, so as to fatten them up and make the meat comparably tender.

Beijing Roast Duck has two kinds: Menlu Roasted Duck (duck roasted in the oven) and Gualu Roasted Duck (duck roasted over the fire). The preparations include: first rubbing the ducks with spices, salt and sugar, and then hanging them in the air for some time. To make a Menlu Roasted Duck, first burn the Kaoliang stalks in the oven till the sides of the oven turn hot, then put the ready-duck inside until the duck is baked date-red and shining with oil by the heat of the oven and the remaining heat of the ash. To make a Gualu Roasted Duck, the ready-duck is baked in the oven directly over the burning wood of peach, jujube or date trees, which gives off a special fragrance, with very little smoke; bake until the duck becomes brown with rich grease perspiring outside and have a nice odor. The best roasted duck has a crisp skin and tender meat.

Beijing Roast Duck is always served in well-cut slices. The chef cuts the meat into thin slices, each having a piece of skin and perfect with the complete layers of the meat. Then the meat is served with very thin pancakes, Chinese onions and special sauce -- usually sweet bean sauce. The way to eat it is to coat the thin pancake with sauce, slap on a few pieces of meat and roll up the pancake. Chopsticks are optional: it is much easier just to grab the thing with your bare hands. Normally there are many dishes served with the duck, including a dish of fine-cut shallot bars, a dish of cucumber bars and finally a dish of paste-like soy of fermented wheat flour. The dinner usually ends with a rich cream-colored duck soup made from the duck.

The two famous restaurants that serve Beijing Roast Duck are Bianyifang Roast Duck Restaurant and Quanjude Roast Duck Restaurant, both of which have a history of over one hundred years. They represent two different schools of roasting duck. Bianyifang, founded in 1855, makes use of a close oven and straw as the fuel, which won't make flames go directly onto the duck. Before being put into the oven, a duck is filled with specially-made soup to make it possible to roast the duck outside and boil it inside at the same time.