479 Roasted Duck was first mentioned in the Record of the Delicacies, a book about gourmet food in the Southern and Northern Dynasties (420-589AD).

1102 Roasted Duck had already been a famous dish in the Northern Song capital of Bianliang (Kaifeng), according to the book of The Eastern Capital: A Dream of Splendors Past, written by Meng Yuanlao (1090-1150). The book gives a lively and detailed description of life in the Northern Song capital of Bianliang, based on the author’s reminiscences of his youthful years there.

1279 According to the Standard History of the Yuan, Roasted Duck first originated in the South of China and it only spread to Beijing after Bayan of the Baarin the general of the Yuan Dynasty (1271-1368) conquered Lin’an, the then capital city of the Southern Song Dynasty (1127-1278). When a Dynasty overthrows another dynasty the capital also changes, the general relocated all the skilled workers from Lin’an, to the new northern capital, Beijing and the skilled duck chef was among them.

1330 Peking Duck, originally called Roasted Duck was listed as one of the delicacies in the Complete Recipes for Dishes and Beverages Manual by Hu Sihui, an inspector of the imperial kitchen.

1416 The first restaurant specializing in Roasted Duck, Bianyifang was established in the Xianyukou, the Qianmen area of Beijing. It roasted ducks in a slow braising oven.

1864 The Quanjude restaurant was established in Beijing. Yang Quanren, the founder of the restaurant developed the hung oven for roast duck.

1949 Zhou Enlai, the first premier of the People’s Republic of China would often treat foreign guests with Peking Duck.

1980 The Chinese government linked Peking Duck with the booming tourism, pushing the duck into the forefront of the catering business.

2003 Sun lixin, the executive chef of Biangyifang, added vegetable flavors to Peking Duck. Many newly established Peking Duck restaurants like Dadong Beijing Duck became popular among customers.

2011 By the end of the 2011, about 140 million Peking ducks had been sold from the Quanjude restaurant.