by William Black
Eating in Beijing is one of life's pleasures, to be sure, but it is rarely a restful one. Apart from the hushed quiet of luxury hotel restaurants, the majority of the capital's eateries are noisy, vigorous places where diners are reminded frequently that even sitting down for a meal is going to be a time when cheerful loud talk and clicking chopsticks echo off a linoleum floor and across the plastic-sheeted table.
For another perspective on Chinese dining, a visit to the Fortune Garden Restaurant is
in order, ideally a big order. 
The new Shanghainese and southern-style restaurant in the shadow of the China World Trade Center has set out to be most things to most diners, with a menu that ranges from abalone and shark's fin soups that would tax an emperor's pocketbook to the humblest bowl of plain congee, south China's staple rice porridge, the selection fits any budget, and the quality of the food should satisfy any appetite.
For lunch, expect to eat well for about 50-75 RMB a person, and count on 100-150 RMB for a dinner that takes one all over the map of south China's kitchens.
Southern cooking, exemplified by sweet tastes, a preponderance of seafood and sticky rice, is one of the best styles of cooking in China's culinary universe, but one that is all too easy to do poorly. It will be familiar to eaters of Chinese food with Western characteristics ?thick and gloppy sweet sauces, overcooked meats and none of the subtle mixing of flavors that places it in the ranks of the world's finest cuisines.
William C. Chiu, the urbane and courteous Taiwanese
native who manages Fortune Garden with his wife, Lina Kam, sums up southern cooking at its
best: ?t's more delicate, but it looks rich.?
The best example of this is the deceptively simple sautŽ plain shrimp, at 150 RMB. They arrive unadorned, with small dish of light, piquant vinegar, and win diners over at the first bite.
Chiu says between five and six hours of preparation, mostly bringing the shrimp to the right temperature before a quick bout of cooking them to a still crisp consistency, are required to get things exactly right.
"If it wasn't the best I could give them, I wouldn't be here.?
"The restaurant business is hard,?he says, smiling and getting up to welcome guests, many of whom work in the Motorola and Hewlett-Packard office building in which Fortune Garden sits. At 1,800 square meters, Chiu believes it is Beijing's largest Shanghainese restaurant, but it feels nothing like the great cavernous dining halls of other giant kitchens. Dark wooden panels cover the 11 private dining rooms, the interior is bright but not glaring, and the carpeting muffles the frequent footsteps of the courteous staff.
Jiangfeng pork, a tender and nicely seasoned cut of dark, rich meat, disappears from its serving dish quickly, as does the braised duck with scallion, though it's a bit of a challenge to reach with chopsticks alone.
Lovers of less oily Chinese food will enjoy the cold vegetable dishes, especially finely diced greens with chopped hazelnuts and a flaky beancurd roll full of fleshy mushrooms.
Braised vegetables Ningbo style come in a bubbling hot clay bowl full of young cabbage in a surprisingly light, slightly sweet sauce.
With a full dim sum menu as well, an early visit would be worthwhile for the 10RMB pork dumplings alone, whose tender, juicy fillings are complemented by nice hints of scallion.
Chiu takes hospitality seriously, unsurprising in a man who has spent his life in the hotel and restaurant business, in Taiwan, the United States, and most recently Tianjin, where he runs the Shanghai Restaurant.
His plan is straightforward -- give people good food at reasonable prices, and catch the upper-middle segment of the restaurant-going public. The corporate headquarters and giant business hotel nearby make this a viable proposition, but Chiu isn't getting complacent on the basis of location alone.
"We are here day and night," he says. "We want quality and service always to stay the same."
Fortune Garden Restaurant, 3/F Hewlett Packard Building, Onward Scinence Trade Center, NO 2 Dongsanhuan Nanlu, 6566-9365/6566-9563
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