"Bitong Drink" is served with lotus leaves.

"Bitong Drink" is a summer-relieving drink invented by ancient people. It was invented in the Wei and Jin Dynasties and became popular in the Tang and Song Dynasties. "Bitong Drink" is a drink that uses lotus leaves as a container to hold the wine. When drinking, people will pick fresh lotus leaves, roll them up like a cup, and fill them with wine. Then pierce the center of the leaf so that the stem and leaf surface are connected, and finally absorb the wine from the stem. The wonderful thing about this method is that when people drink the lotus stems, the wine flows into the mouth, as if they are tasting the flavor of summer.

Bitong drink is not only a summer-relieving drink of the ancients, but also a reflection of the wisdom of the ancients. The ancients used lotus leaves as wine cups for drinking. They picked lotus leaves from the lotus pond and used them as wine cups. It was quite interesting to pick them up easily.

The origin of "Bitong Drink":

Speaking of "Shijunlin", not many people in Jinan probably know this garden; but when it comes to "Bitong Drink" , this ingenious, elegant and exquisite way of drinking originated in Jinan, has been passed down for thousands of years, and is especially famous among literati. The drinking method of Bitong Drink was invented by the owner of Junlin when he was enjoying the cool air with his friends in his garden to escape the summer heat.

The "Youyang Zazu·Volume 7" written by Duan Chengshi of the Tang Dynasty records: "There is a forest of envoys in the north of Licheng. During the beginning of the Wei Dynasty, Duke Zheng often led his staff to escape the summer heat here. Take a large lotus leaf and place it on an inkstone grid, hold three liters of wine, use a hairpin to pierce the leaf, connect it to the stem, and spread the fungus on the stem like an elephant trunk. It is called a Bitong Cup."