"Reeves shad is delicious, but it has many bones. When we prepare the dish, we take special care to remove all visible bones and pour hot oil over the scales to soften them. Being able to enjoy fresh shad in the northern regions today is, in a way, a modern luxury that lets us share in the delight Emperor Kangxi once experienced," Lu remarks humorously.

For Lu, a 44-year-old scholar previously focused on the Song Dynasty (960-1279) food culture, re-creating dishes from Dream of the Red Chamber is about more than cuisine. It is an experiment in using banquet as a "language" to express his unique understanding of the classic novel and the food culture of the early Qing Dynasty, from the Kangxi to the Qianlong eras.

According to Tencent News, they have encouraged Lu to expand his re-creations into a full banquet, hoping it will provide a model for a modern approach to studying classics, connecting contemporary readers with the past to help preserve traditional culture.