Bianyifang

Bianyifang is the oldest Peking duck restaurant currently standing in Beijing, China. The restaurant was first established in 1416, and a dispute among its owners in 1855 resulted in the branch that survives until today. In 1855, the Wang family, one of the many minor owners of Bianyifang failed to increase its share, and decided to use its own money to open another Bianyifang by convincing the most capable employee with last name Liu to join the new venture. Mr. Liu succeeded in drafting more capable employees from the original Bianyifang to the new branch, and since many of them still kept their share in the old ones, both sides reached an agreement of sharing the name and coexisting peacefully. The new branch esablished in 1855 has since remained to be one of two of the most famous Peking-duck specialty restaurant in the country along with Quanjude, while the original Bianyifang closed its doors due to poor management. The restaurant has carried the Beijing cuisine tradition from the Qing dynasty, past the Chinese civil war and numerous World wars to the present day form. Its main competition historically has been the Quanjude, another renowned resturant specializes on Peking Duck.