According to the Qing Dynasty state system, a grand state banquet is held in the Hall of Supreme Harmony every Spring Festival to entertain Mongolian princes and foreign envoys to celebrate the New Year.

Before the banquet, it is first necessary to arrange properly inside and outside the hall. The arrangement of the State banquet in the Hall of Supreme Harmony is strictly stipulated. The principle of the arrangement is mainly to emphasize the supreme majesty of the emperor, and the atmosphere of the banquet should also reflect the prosperity of the country. According to the regulations, on the day of the banquet, there are five drums, and the envoy Luanyi of Guanglu Temple leads the official school to the front of the hall, and sets up a royal table for the emperor in front of the throne in the hall, and then sets up a total of 105 banquet tables for the front minister, the rear minister, the guard of the leopard tail class, the daily note officer, the inner and outer princes, the consort, and the first and second grade civil and military ministers. In the center of the imperial road on the alchemy in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony, a yellow curtain is opened in the south, and there is a reverse wall inside. Two large copper braziers are prepared in the leather wall, and two iron pots are placed on the top. One is ready to hold meat, and the other is ready to hold hot water for warm wine.

In the 45th year of Qianlong (1780), it was stipulated that 19 seats would be subtracted, 18 sheep would be subtracted, and 18 bottles of wine would be subtracted. Jiaqing and Daoguang later increased or decreased according to the actual situation. Unlike other banquets, the cost of the state banquet in Taihe Palace was not "borne by the state treasury. According to regulations, the imperial meals used by the emperor were prepared by the Internal Affairs Office, and the meals on the other banquet tables were offered by the ministers according to regulations. If it is not enough, the Guanglu Temple will be responsible for the preparation. The specific number of offerings is:

The princes each offered 8 seats, including 1 table for the large seat, and the tableware used for the tableware was silver tableware; 7 tables for the seats, and the tableware used for the tables was copper tableware. The princes also offered 3 Mongolian sheep and 3 bottles of wine for 5 kilograms each.

The county king each offered 5 seats, including 1 table for the large seat and 4 tables for the table. The level of each table was the same as that offered by the prince, and the number of sheep and wine offered was also the same as that offered by the prince.

Each of them offered three feasts, two sheep, and two bottles of wine. Below Baylor, the utensils offered for the feast were the same as those offered by the princes and princes.

Beizi each offered two seats, two sheep, and two bottles of wine.

The main reason for holding the Hall of Supreme Harmony state banquet is political and ceremonial needs. At the banquet, the emperor usually comes in person, but does not eat. The Hall of Supreme Harmony state banquet usually starts at noon (12 o'clock), when the princes and ministers who are with the banquet are all dressed in court clothes and arranged according to the court class. As soon as the auspicious time arrives, the officials of the auditorium invite the emperor to dress the imperial hall. At this time, the bells and drums on the meridian gate are ringing in unison, and the Zhonghe Shao music under the eaves in front of the Hall of Supreme Harmony plays the music of "Yuan Ping Chapter". After the emperor sits on the throne, the princes and ministers each take their place and bow to the emperor After sitting down, it was a set of extremely cumbersome rituals such as tea, tea, tea, wine, wine, food, and thank you. Then dance and stage various entertainment programs to help the feast.

An unprecedented feast

The banquet of thousands of old people, as the name implies, is a banquet attended by thousands of older people. It was the largest and largest imperial banquet in the Qing Dynasty.

Emperor Kangxi was the first to open the banquet of thousands of people. In the first month of the fifty-second year of Kangxi (1713), it was the time of intense preparations for the 60th birthday celebration of Emperor Kangxi. At this moment, the Qing Empire was "peace in the four seas, and people's livelihood was prosperous". People from all over the world felt the favor of Emperor Kangxi. Some elderly people came to Beijing one after another to celebrate the emperor's birthday and the beginning of the new year. Seeing this situation, Emperor Kangxi deeply felt the sincerity of the people. As the sage of the Qing Empire, how could the old people from afar return empty-handed? Therefore, on the day before the Longevity Celebration (March 19), a special decree was issued, and it was decided to feast at Changchun Garden in the western suburbs of Beijing to reward the old people and send them back to their hometowns after the banquet.

After Kangxi, Emperor Qianlong also held two large-scale banquets of thousands of people. In the forty-ninth year of Qianlong (1784), the compilation of Siku Quanshu, the most extensive series of books in Chinese history, was completed, and the fifth grandson of Emperor Qianlong was born in this year. All this made Emperor Qianlong, who was in his seventies, very happy. He decided to follow the example of Emperor Kangxi and reopen the banquet of thousands of people, so he issued a decree. A new banquet of thousands of people was scheduled to be held in the first month of the fifty years of Qianlong (1785) in the Qianqing Palace. There were more than 3,000 seniors in the banquet, and a total of 800 tables were arranged at the imperial table of Emperor Qianlong.

In the center of the earth level of the Qianqing Palace is the imperial table of the Qianlong Emperor, the royal prince and the first and second-class ministers in the lower floor of the earth level and the two corridors outside the hall, and the first-class table of foreign envoys. The food at the first-class table is: two hot pots (1 silver and 1 tin hot pot each), 1 plate of pork slices, 1 plate of mutton slices, 1 plate of deer tail roast venison, and 1 plate of mutton black fork. Meat dishes 4 bowls. Steamed food Shouyi 1 plate, stove food Shouyi 1 plate, snail box side dishes 2 plates, ebony chopsticks 2, and shredded meat soup rice. There are two hot pots (copper) on the second-class table, 1 plate of pork slices, 1 plate of roe roe roe meat, 1 plate of steamed food longevity, 1 plate of stove food longevity, two plates of snail box side dishes, two ebony chopsticks, and shredded meat rice soup.

At the beginning of the banquet, the minister of the tea room offered a bowl of red milk tea to the emperor. After the emperor finished drinking, the minister in charge of the banquet and the guards entered with silver coconut bowls in their hands and distributed them to the princes and ministers. After drinking, the tea bowl was no longer reared, so it was rewarded to the tea drinkers. After receiving the tea, the officials of the princes and ministers who were given tea all sat out and saluted the emperor's seat in the Qianqing official to thank him for the gift of tea.

After the tea was given, the two leaders of the tea room placed the golden dragon table in front of the emperor's throne. Then, the emperor called the first-class ministers and those over 90 years old to kneel in front of the throne and personally gave wine. At the same time, the prince, grandson, and great-grandson were ordered to bring wine to the princes and ministers in the hall and distribute food. After drinking, the wine cup was rewarded to the banquets.

The meal materials used are: 375.375 kilograms of white noodles, 18.0625 kilograms of sugar, 5.0625 kilograms of sesame oil, 50 kilograms of eggs, 5 kilograms of sweet sauce, 2.5 kilograms of white salt, 1.5625 kilograms of mung bean flour, 4 buckets of rice, 12.5 kilograms of yam, 3.375 kilograms of walnut kernels, 5.0625 kilograms of dried dates, 0.25 kilograms of mushrooms, 850 kilograms of pork, 850 ducks, 850 bad people, 1700 pig elbows, 200 kilograms of Yuquan wine, and 1924 kilograms of firewood. 206 kilograms of charcoal and 150 kilograms of coal.

After Jiaqing, the Qing Dynasty's national strength declined, and it was no longer able to hold such a large-scale feast.