The predecessor of Beijing Xinyuanzhai Food Factory was Xinyuanzhai Honey Fruit Shop, which was built in the fifth year of Emperor Qianlong's reign in the Qing Dynasty (1740) and was originally located in Dongliu Lichang. The founder's surname was Xiao (some say Liu). Zhu Yifan, a Hanlin scholar in the Qing Dynasty and the teacher of the last emperor Puyi, admired Xinyuanzhai's honey preserved fruits and sour plum soup very much. He once wrote a plaque "Xinyuanzhai Honey Fruit Shop" and hung it on the lintel. The shop sells goods in two storefronts and processes them in the backyard workshop. It produces and sells them by itself, and mainly sells exquisite foods that are in season. For example: in summer, it sells refreshing sour plum soup, which is sold from the Grain in Ear in the lunar calendar to the End of Summer; in autumn, it processes various candied fruits, including crabapples, red fruits, dried apricots, etc., which are sold from the Frost Descent to after the Spring Festival; in winter, it makes homemade candied haws, sugar dumplings and praline sticky candies. In addition, the foods sold all year round include sour plum cakes, sour plum brine, sesame crisp candies, bean flour crisp candies, autumn pear paste, etc. Because of the genuine materials and the genuine products, the reputation of the products has lasted for a long time. The unique sour plum soup, sour plum brine and sour plum cake are particularly well-known among literati and celebrities. Mei Lanfang, Shang Xiaoyun and Ma Lianliang often visit the restaurant. It has won many awards, such as the silver medal awarded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Industry and Commerce of the Nanyang Industrial Exposition in 1910, the first prize at the Kyoto Export Association of the National Products Exhibition in 1915, the awards from the then Ministry of Agriculture and Commerce, Chahar and Hebei Provincial National Products Exhibition in 1917 and 1931 respectively, the certificate of excellence at the National Railway Native Products Exhibition in 1934, and the super prize at the Panama International Exposition in 1915. Xinyuanzhai's sour plum soup is a traditional medical and health food in my country. It is processed and made according to the method of the imperial kitchen of the Qing Palace. It is unique and popular. Every summer, the store uses a special wooden refrigerator to chill the sour plum soup and sell it in the store. The business room is hung with celebrity calligraphy and paintings, and is equipped with tables and chairs. Many scholars and poets who visit the cultural street and buy antiques, calligraphy and paintings are willing to go to the elegant shop of Xinyuanzhai to drink a bowl of sour, sweet, fragrant, refreshing and refreshing sour plum soup, which can not only relieve summer heat, but also take the opportunity to take a rest. Foreign scholars and overseas Chinese often ask people to buy or mail sour plum cakes for them as a pleasure. Xinyuanzhai's sour plum soup is usually stored in a large-bellied blue-and-white porcelain jar, which is surrounded by natural ice. The porcelain jar and natural ice are placed in a wooden box, which is nailed with a layer of tinplate and coated with Daqi on the outside. The raw materials used in the food made by the store are extremely strictly selected. For example, sour plum soup and sour plum cake use high-quality black plums produced in Zhejiang, Fujian and Guangdong, especially the round, small-core and thick-fleshed black plums produced in Ji'an, Zhejiang. The auxiliary materials are golden rock sugar and sugar osmanthus produced by Zhang Changfeng or Zhang Fengyu in Hangzhou. For the crabapples used in candied fruit, the "Ba Leng" white crabapples are used, and the white sugar is the "first layer" soft white sugar. During production, we insist on feeding according to the formula and strictly follow the procedures. The ingredients for making sour plum soup should be flexibly controlled according to the temperature. It should be a little sour when it is hot and a little sweet when it is cool. The method is: after constant temperature and timed soaking, filtering, heating, and adding appropriate auxiliary materials such as osmanthus and rock sugar. The sour plum soup requires golden color, overflowing fragrance, cool and refreshing, and hanging bowl after drinking (a layer of soup is attached to the bowl). After making sour plum soup, it is concentrated and processed into sour plum brine to achieve the requirements of black, red and transparent color, rich floral fragrance, and sweet and sour taste. The method of making candied haws is even more unique. Select the best red fruits, remove the core, string them together, but leave a certain gap between the fruits so that each red fruit is evenly coated with rock sugar. Some people also cut a hole in the fruit, sandwich homemade fine bean paste, walnuts, and yam paste, and apply a thin layer of black bean paste on the outside. White melon seeds of different shapes are arranged on the bean paste, and then coated with rock sugar juice. The exterior is distinctly red, white and black, and the food is sweet, sour, crispy, fragrant and delicious. In 1948, due to the market depression, Xinyuanzhai closed down. After 1956, under the care of Premier Li Keqiang, the Beijing Municipal Government actively supported and built a new factory. The sales department was still at the original site, and the original technical workers were invited back to resume the production and operation of the old Xinyuanzhai store. Soon, due to production reorganization, it was merged into the Dongcheng District Small Food Factory and renamed "Yidu Food Factory". Later, the factory was expanded at No. 5 Zhongfang Street, Chaoyang District, and the production of sour plum cakes and sour plum brine was retained. In 1984, the old brand of "Xinyuanzhai" was restored. Due to the expansion of production scale and the advantages of many companies, in addition to traditional products, more than 100 kinds of sugar-made small foods are produced. Among them, the traditional famous products of osmanthus sour plum cake, sesame crisp candy, and bean flour crisp candy have successively won the quality product awards of Beijing and the former Ministry of Commerce. (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.) (No pictures yet, welcome to provide.)