Difficulty: Challenger (Level 2)
In today’s age, we can open an app and order food to eat at home. This is possible because of smartphones and online payment methods. But a long time ago, before cars and modern technology, ancient China already had a way to deliver food.
It can be traced back to the Han dynasty (206BC-AD220). Historical records say an emperor once asked his officials about the living conditions of ordinary people. The officials wanted to hide the truth – there was a famine in the city.
One bought a bowl of meat soup from a market. He showed it to the emperor and said it was the type of food that regular people ate every day.
Historians think this shows that people could already take food home from restaurants during the Han period.
By the Tang dynasty (618-907), food delivery services had expanded to ordinary residents. Their takeaways tended to be food that was easy to store and carry, such as various flatbreads and dried meats.
