Xi'an breathes new vitality into dining experiences, matching cuisine with cultural entertainment, Lin Qi reports.

What makes a perfect banquet an unforgettable evening? One might find the answer in the poems of the Tang Dynasty (618-907), which depict the nightlife of Chang'an, the imperial city in modern-day Xi'an of Shaanxi province, providing rich details and rhetoric beauty.

For example, in Liren Xing (Fair Ladies on Outing) composed by Du Fu, elite diners "are served with arrays of delicate plates of fresh white fish"; in Preface for a Spring Night Banquet with Cousins in the Orchard, Li Bai described a joyful gathering in such verses as "begins the banquet by sitting among flowers, be drunk by beverages and intoxicating scenes of the moon".

Surrounded by dancing, singing, and poem-chanting and served good food and drinks, these great poets not only celebrated the pleasures of life but they also expressed a concern for the deep malaise in society beneath the extravagance of Chang'an and the Tang empire.

Be it prosperous, romantic, sorrowful, or complicated, Chang'an is poised as a fantasy worth a visit.

Now, for visitors to Xi'an, that fantasy has become a reality with an extravagant dinner at the Fu Rong Yan Restaurant: A Seasonal Aesthetic Dining Show.