The most distinctive characteristic of restaurants in Beijing is their size. Such is their scale that most restaurants employ several receptionists to stand by the door to greet customers so that they might escort them to their tables in relay ; this is often a long walk . I have eaten in large Parisian brasseries and some of the bigger joints that have opened in London, Moscow and New York, but these are small by comparison.

This trait is the result, one Beijing restaurateur explained to me, of the contradictory demands put upon the interior design by the roles the Chinese want their restaurants to fulfil. There must be a plethora of private rooms so that the host can entertain behind closed doors and lavish hospitality on his business guests in private. But – and this is a more recent development – there must also be the opportunity to be seen to be spending magnificently. That passers-by will notice the expensive bottles of red wine on the table is good for “face” – and the reason that empty bottles are never cleared away.