common materials, as opposed to the expensive and rare materials that are more commonly used in other styles of Chinese aristocrat cuisine. Another characteristic of Dongpo cuisine is that the origin of most of the dishes can be traced back to the Su Shi's literary work. The other important characteristic of Dongpo cuisine is that the heavy use of gravy and sauce. Li family’s cuisine Li family's cuisine (Li-Jia-Cai, 厉家菜) is developed from Chinese imperial cuisine, and it is a fusion of Chinese imperial cuisine and Beijing cuisine, supplemented by dishes created by their own. Contrary to the rest styles of Chinese aristocrat cuisine that are developed from and based on regional cuisines of southern China, Li family's cuisine is developed from and based on northern regional cuisines of northern China: The original creator of Li family's cuisine, Mr. Li Shun-Qing (厉顺庆), was a Qing Dynasty subject with rank of lieutenant general (都统, Dutong), in charge of Empress Dowager Cixi’s Imperial Household Department, and he memorized the menus of Empress Dowager's meals at work, and then wrote down after returning home, and the menus were kept in the family for more than a century. One of the most significant characteristics of Li family's cuisine is that all dishes are made from natural ingredients, without using any artificial or synthetic material/ingredients/chemical/colors. In addition to not using any artificial or synthetic material/ingredients/chemical/colors, all food are cooked by traditional methods without using any modern cookware, instead, everything is cooked on traditional Chinese hearth. Another characteristic of Li family's cuisine is that there is not any menu so customers cannot place any order. Instead, customers must eat whatever is available when the restaurant serves. Only banquets are available, which includes fifteen appetizers, seven main courses and two sweets. Mei family’s cuisine Mei family's cuisine (Mei-Jia-Cai, 梅家菜) is created by Mr. Wang Shou-Shan (王寿山), the personal chef of the most famous Peking opera artists in modern Chinese theater, Mr. Mei Lanfang. Mei family's cuisine is a fusion of Huaiyang cuisine and another style of Chinese aristocrat cuisine, Tan family's cuisine. There are approximately six hundred dishes available in Mei family's cuisine, none of the dishes are flavored heavily, and each dish is not large in term of size. Another important characteristic of Mei family's cuisine is that dishes are seasonal because ingredients used are harvested according to the season, and cooking methods used also vary