Past & present in dialogue

History made of chocolate

Inside a newly opened chocolate museum stands a 22.8-meter-long dragon sculpted entirely from white chocolate, crafted to resemble polished marble.

Nearby sits a painstakingly carved chocolate replica of an imperial phoenix crown, assembled from more than 1,700 miniature components — each tiny pearl and gem hand-glued.

"You might have to wait two hours just to see the real crown at the National Museum of China. Here, you can take a photo right next to it," says store manager Ma Li.

The museum, part of a small chain with locations in Shanghai, Xi'an in Shaanxi province and Qingdao in Shandong province, customizes its exhibits for each city. In Beijing, it chose the dragon, the Central Axis, mythical roof guardians, and ornate ceilings known as zaojing (caisson ceilings), all quintessential Beijing symbols, fashioned out of chocolate.

Children peer into glass cases, identifying the mythical animals that decorate Forbidden City rooftops — 10 for the Hall of Supreme Harmony, reserved for the emperors alone. Young visitors pose with chocolate "gold coins" beneath a wall inscribed with a famous Chinese saying: "Within books lies a house of gold".

This interplay between tradition and innovation has grown from a deliberate philosophy of urban renewal that began more than a decade ago.