Chinese food museums are popular

The Chinese have always loved food, and have lately begun to display a keen interest in their culinary heritage. This has spawned a crop of new museums all about food, and the many ways it has been cooked across the centuries.

The round table is set with a banquet of more than 40 dishes, including legendary delicacies such as a whole bear's paw, surrounded by the tongues of little fish, steamed civet cat with pears, and bird's nest soup. It looks so appetising – but unfortunately none of it is edible. This entire, gorgeous spread, rotating slowly before my eyes, is made from painted plastic. It's a museum reconstruction of dishes from the most famous meal in Chinese history, the Man-Han banquet of the Qing Dynasty court which is said to have represented the pinnacle of the culinary skills of the Han Chinese and their Manchu conquerors. (Szerencsi Ágnes, MTI)