Liubiju

Liubiju was founded in the ninth year of the reign of Jiajing in the Ming Dynasty, and has a 490-year history, making it one of the time-honored brands in Beijing. It was originally a small store run by the Zhao’s including Zhao Cunren, Zhao Cunyi and Zhao Cunli from Xidu Village in Linfen, Shanxi Province, specializing in selling daily necessities. As the saying goes, start a new day with seven things, firewood, rice, oil, salt, sauce, vinegar and tea. These seven things are essential to people's daily life. The Zhao’s small store, because it does not sell tea, is named as Liubiju which means the six essentials in the daily life. Liubiju is most famous for its sauces, and it is also the one with the longest history and most notable reputation among Beijing's sauce stores.
The most famous Liubiju store is located at No. 3 Lianshidian Street in Qianmen. The large gold plaque hanging there is written by Yan Song, an important officer in the Ming Dynasty. This plaque has been well preserved despite several disasters and has become a rare treasure. Now in addition to the Liubiju store in Qianmen, there are many other branches of Liubiju in Beijing.