Director Wang Wei says the crew established a special team to dive into food and cuisine developed in ancient China, producing a list, based on historical archives, around two months before shooting started early last year.

"With the list, they have endeavored to seek out the ingredients and qualified cooks. As a lot of dishes require a high level of sculpting skill, we have recruited around 20 chefs to specially make such dishes for nearly a month," says Wang.

A Beijing native who grew up in a hutong in the city's downtown, Wang recalls that his home was near the eastern gate of the Imperial Ancestral Temple, located a few hundred meters from the Forbidden City, now the Palace Museum.

"The beauty of the Forbidden City, with its iconic red walls and yellow roofs, has been etched on my mind since I was a child. So, I was always quite interested in stories set in Beijing, especially those related to the Forbidden City," recalls the director.

However, Royal Feast marks the first time he has delved into a drama themed around food. After spending a couple of months learning from experts and historians, Wang and his team discovered that the food preparation skills-from seasoning to cooking-during the Ming Dynasty were profound, encompassing legacies from previous dynasties, as well as reflecting China's geographical diversity.